The Chosen Curse
by NancyBG-OldMaidWhovian
Summary: The Doctor and Donna stumble upon a war, and must race to keep two races from total destruction. This is the final draft of the original submission of this story. It has had cuts and additions and most of the last chapter has been re-written.
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Who: The Chosen Curse

Chapter 1

"Doctor?" Donna said, crouched down on the floor, tapping the Doctor on the bottom of an exposed foot. "I know you're having fun playing with your TARDIS, but you've been under there for the past four hours. Am I going to have to pull you out of there by your ankles?"

Donna was eying the Doctor's brown pinstripe encased legs, like she was quite serious. He grunted something, but otherwise seemed to be ignoring her as he lay flat on his stomach amid a tangle of wires and cables. She noticed that his shoes looked more dark gray than white.

"You really should throw those trainers in the wash, you know." She nagged him. "They look like something you found while out bin diving."

Donna frowned when she thought she heard the Doctor mutter something that sounded suspiciously like a sarcastic, '_Yes, mother_.'

Having noticed something wrong with the TARDIS' navigational circuits, the Doctor had stuck his trusty sonic screwdriver in his mouth, and shimmied under the console deck's grating to sort it.

Leaving Donna to rattle about the old space-time ship on her own. She'd gone into the library. Wandering the stacks, Donna sighed, deciding that she didn't feel like reading. Leaving the library, she went for a walk to the TARDIS' various recreational areas. Only to find that the squash courts, roller coaster simulator, karaoke room and the swimming pool's virtual surfboarding instructor, held no attraction for her. Although she did sit for a while beside the pool, admiring the 3-D image of the instructor. He reminded her of one of those blokes on _Baywatch_.

Having made herself some tea, and changed outfits several times—she finally settled for dark tan trousers with an embroidered turquoise blue blouse under a tan jumper vest, Donna was getting seriously bored. And that in itself was quite a feat, she thought, considering where she was. Which is why Donna was presently staring down the hatchway at the Doctor's dirty trainers.

"Doctor? I don't suppose you could drop me off at some nice intergalactic shopping centre somewhere, could you?" Donna asked, peering under the grating, trying to see his face. She chose to ignore his arse. It wasn't that she didn't like looking at men's bum's, but this was a skinny alien bubble-shaped bum. Definitely not her type.

"I mean, do they have anything like a Tesco's in other parts of the universe? Or is that only an Earth thing?" Donna wondered.

Heaving a sigh of resignation, the Doctor set the sonic down and turned to look at her.

"Look Donna, if you don't want to hang about while I fix this, I could always drop you off home to have a nice visit with your mum." The Doctor suggested.

"Eh—no. It's fine. I guess I can go make some more tea. Or coffee. Or...something." Donna said hastily. She felt a twinge of guilt. While she missed her mum Sylvia, she didn't miss Sylvia's constant nagging. "_Thank God I'm not like that_!" Donna thought. To the Doctor she said, "You really shouldn't spend so much time in that position. You'll get muscle cramps." The Doctor only grunted. Shrugging, Donna turned and went towards the kitchens. "Want anything?" She called out.

"No. Thank you. Donna." The Doctor said shortly, in a voice that clearly said, 'go away'.

The Doctor had pulled himself up through the hatch, and was sitting cross legged on the metal deck, holding a pair of cables in his hand. It was important to him that his companions have a good time while traveling with him, and a bored Donna was an unhappy Donna, and an unhappy Donna was very loud.

Slipping on his glasses, he was using his sonic screwdriver to fix the coupling on one of the cables. Suddenly, the end of the cable blew up in a shower of sparks.

Giving a startled yelp of pain and snatching away his burnt fingers, the Doctor dropped the cables. He was immediately flung backwards as the ship suddenly sprang to life and abruptly keeled over. Donna had thankfully been near the handrails, and held on for dear life, as the TARDIS began pitching and tossing through space like a rudder-less ship caught in a November gale. The central column glowed bright green and began a strange pulsing, as it moved up and down.

"What the...? What? _What_!" The Doctor exclaimed, still sprawled on the floor, staring at the control console in disbelief, "She's taken herself out of park and is flying on her own. That's...impossible! I left her in emergency parking mode! The TARDIS isn't supposed to do that."

"Well, apparently that's what it's doing, spaceman. Question is, what're ya' gonna' do to stop it before I get TARDIS sick?" Donna shouted, just before a particularly violent wrench of the ship made her lose her grip on the handrail. She sprawled on the floor, nearly falling on top of the Doctor.

"If you get sick on my trainers, you're washing them." Was all he said, helping her to her feet . They both went staggering towards, then nearly crashed into, the ship's controls, as the TARDIS gave another violent lurch.

"Where are we going?" She asked, gripping the edge of the console for dear life.

"Erm—haven't a clue." He answered, looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face, which had a strange blue-green cast to it, a reflection from the brightly lit central column. He flashed her a delighted grin, saying, "Isn't that brilliant?"

It was a broad green land, with only a few scattered patches of forest, and flanked by rocky hills. The valley appeared peaceful and deserted, watched over by a benign yellow sun. A large eagle-like bird with red and gold plumage soared overhead, searching for its dinner. It circled higher and higher until it became a minute speck in the sky. Its keen eye spotted movement in a ravine below.

Flipping its wing tips up, the eagle swooped downward at a sharp angle, a maneuver which would have made any dive-bombing pilot jealous. At the last moment though, the bird realized that he was seeing a predator instead of prey, and shot back up into the sky.

Sergeant Nazene took a sip from his aqua carrier to wet his dry throat. He pushed back his black helmet, wiping his sweating forehead with the sleeve of the dark green battle suit he was wearing. The thin pale-skinned man watched the eagle approach, then fly away in a hurry. He nodded his head in approval.

"Clever bird, that. Sometimes I wish I had a set of wings." He said to the man next to him. "Anyway, he's got more sense than we do. We're sittin' swampbills out here."

"If you don't mind me saying so sir, that's the kind of talk that'll get you shot for treason, Sergeant." Corporal Fapter told him. The chubby young soldier was sat next to his sergeant, with his back against the side of the ravine, his laser-rifle lying across his lap. "At least, as long as Commandant Ringstaff is around to inform on you to the Emperor."

"The emperor!" Nazene snorted. "Tell you what, corporal? The man should of had his brains melted down into soap. I mean, it's not like he's using them, is it?

"Yeah, but who'd buy it? It'd probably be all minging." Fapter chuckled, glad he had a regular bloke like Nazene beside him, and not some imperial officer who'd bought his commission. Sliding wary, sidelong glances around him to be sure no one was listening, the corporal leaned over and added in a whisper, "Truth to tell, sarge, I don't much like this place. Had bad dreams about it last night, I did."

"That's probably just from the dried bladder root you had for dinner, corporal. That would give anyone nightmares." Nazene joked. But he wasn't smiling. He was experiencing an ominous feeling, as well. "This whole firing squad thing's' pretty daft. At least, right now it is."

"What d'ya mean, sarge?" Fapter asked.

"Well, not to put too fine a point on things, corporal...here we are, nothing between us and the enemy but this here ditch, outnumbered, with half our weaponry lost or broken, and all the best generals dead. Threating to shoot us for talking out of turn, while waiting to be shot or blown to kingdom come by the enemy, isn't exactly what you'd call a threat, is it?"

They were holed up in a shallow crevice that ran along the floor of the valley, probably made by the runoff from winter rains. Part of the tired and battle-weary remnants of the army of Emperor Yenhir, which were scattered over a large swath in the bottom of the valley. Some of the soldiers rested or checked their equipment, while others were anxiously looking towards the west facing hills, whence the enemy was expected at any moment to appear. The emperor's soldiers were there, waiting to fight and perhaps to die, all because of one man and his lust for power.

A series of civil wars on their home world had finally resulted in the son of a noble family, named Yenhir, assuming the role of leader of the planet Torsaaga. This man, the dull-witted drug-addicted, pub crawling black sheep of the family in his youth, had, in his adult life, lead a lazy and largely unremarkable political career.

Yenhir, through a mixture of outright bribery, adept lies and condemnation of anyone opposing his views as being a traitor, united the planet's city-states, and ended the civil wars. He somehow managed to convince the majority that he was a strong leader, and, over the course of thirty-five years, gradually rose up through the political ranks.

Eventually, he convinced the planetary parliament to declare him emperor of the entire planet. There was a great ceremony celebrating this, where the now gray-haired and dignified looking Yenhir, wearing the long dark green and black robes and crimson sash of his new office, was presented with a silver and ruby crown.

However, when certain of the more free-thinking nobles started to publicly voice their doubts about him, and talked of producing proof of his mis-deeds, Emperor Yenhir realized that he needed a major diversion. What bigger diversion, he thought, than declaring war on the neighbouring planet of Dacana? And, while he was at it, he also had those troublesome nobles discreetly executed.

The vid-media on Torsaaga was manipulated by the Emperor and his staff, quite effectively. Their unrelenting propaganda campaign, was based entirely on disinformation and false evidence. Yenhir and his political cronies railed against the leader and people of Dacana, driving public opinion against the Dacanese. The emperor declared that the Dacanese president wanted take over Torsaaga, so that he could spread their alien impurities and immoral culture throughout the entire planetary system. The humanoid dog people who lived and ruled on Dacana sent diplomats to sue for continuing peaceful relations. Torsaaga refused to allow any of their ships permission to land.

On a beautiful spring morning, Emperor Yenhir announced on national vid-media that they were going to war. The Torsaaga people greeted this news with raucous cheers, as if it were an announcement of a pending football match between two rival teams. For the Dacanse, it was not such a happy occasion. The following year brought them nothing but death, torture and mass destruction wrought by the emperor and his army. Ten thousand Dacanese children perished, along with their families.

Even though the emperor's forces had ten times the firepower and five times the troops, somehow the Dacanese fought on. The two armies had clashed in several mighty battles, and Torsaaga had been the victor in each one. Yet, it was at a very great cost to itself in decimated troops, lost firepower and quickly dwindling resources. The emperor was virtually emptying his planet's coffers over a trumped up war with an innocent party.

Now, the troops of the emperor were scattered about a valley most of them didn't even know the name of, and probably couldn't pronounce properly anyway, waiting for the what looked to be the final battle to begin. Unlike all the other battles, this time it was they who were greatly outnumbered. Sweating under his helmet, Sergeant Nazene gripped his laser-rifle, and waited for the signal to advance. He didn't have long to wait. Over the brow of the hills came nearly the entire Dacanese army.

The green-clad, black helmeted soldiers in the ravine instinctively ducked, as the first of the arrow-rockets began to fire upon them, from the Dacanese chariot-ships. Hours later, it was obvious to even the greenest private, that the battle was going badly for the emperor's forces. Somehow, the emperor's auxiliary troops, which were put into place to protect the backs of the soldiers down on the front line, had been misdirected to the wrong part of the battlefield.

The emperor's soldiers were left unprotected in the rear. Swiftly taking advantage of this error, the humanoid-canine Dacanese sent a brigade of flying fox-warriors armed with laser goggles. These were weapons which fitted to the eyes, with a special glove with a firing button fitted to the paw-hand, allowing soldiers to aim and fire simultaneously. Swooping down from the hill behind the emperor's troops, they decimated the already dwindling Torsaaga lines.

Sergeant Nazene had seen young Corporal Fapter die, his body blown to bits by a rocket-arrow. Fighting his way through the smoke and bomb blasts, he found himself on a small knoll, which was partly hidden from the enemy's view. As a little of the smoke cleared away, Nazene gasped. There in front of him was the emperor himself, surrounded by a few of his most loyal guardsmen, and some very nervous support staff.

Commandant Ringstaff was there as well, directing what he termed a 'strategic retreat' of their few remaining troops. To Nazene, it looked more like a bloody mess. The dark haired, bearded C

The commandant's black-braided, dark green and gold layered Cossack style tunic was pressed and spotless. His matching green trousers with gold trim down the sides of the legs, were likewise immaculate, as if he had just stopped off at Mrs. Golightly's Happy Traveling University and Dry Cleaners, on the way to the battle.

The man's black patent leather boots were so shiny, he could probably use them as a mirror to trim his beard with. His tall black furry hat with the dark green feathers spouting out of the side and shiny brass chin strap, was perched on Ringstaff's head like a hunting trophy. The whole outfit looked obscenely out of place to Nazene, after all of the dirt and gore he and his fellow soldiers had just wallowed through.

Nanzene wondered how Ringstaff managed to stay unmarked in the middle of a long battle, when even the emperor was looking worse for wear. He sadly watched from his vantage point as little pockets of resistance were being systematically picked off by the Dacanese forces. There seemed to be no escape for them, and by the distressed look on the emperor's face, Nazene could see that their leader knew this.

"Where are the support ships? What happened to my auxiliary force?" The emperor yelled, red-faced with outrage. He looked far less splendid now, his official robes tattered and stained. Even his crown was askew on his head. The emperor gazed wildly at the skies overhead, as if expecting rescue ships to appear out of thin air. But there were no more rescue ships. Some unknown command had ordered them back to the Torsaaga home world, on the pretense of protecting it from further attack.

"I'm sorry Emperor Yenhir sir," said one of his aides nervously, "but as you were told earlier, all of the support ships are gone. We're on our own. I'm afraid, ah—you may have to consider surrender, my lord emperor. There is hope that the Dacanese will offer us equitable terms, despite everything."

With a shout of rage, the emperor grabbed an astonished Nazene's rifle out of his hands. Aiming it at the unfortunate aide de camp, the emperor shot the man dead. Nazene stared at the emperor, but the others in the group didn't even turn a hair. They seemed to believe that nothing untoward had happened. '_Is this what the emperor is truly like?_' Nazene wondered uncomfortably.

"Traitor!" The emperor screamed, kicking the dead aide's body. "This what happens when I surround myself with liars and weak-minded fools!" the man said. "What I wouldn't give to see a ship for home, right now. Dear Torsaaga, my home, my life, whose forests shimmer like green silk in the summer sun, whose skies are lit by a thousand thousand stars, dancing like torch flies in the ebony night."

'_Wow_', thought Nazene, '_that's beautiful. The emperor could've been one helluva' poet. Too bad he's not. Might have saved so many lives and grief, had he chosen that path._' He kept his thoughts private though, which he deemed prudent, considering the dead body at his feet. He didn't know that the emperor was only quoting a poem he'd seen written on the back of a patriotic-themed crisp packet once, down to the local pub.

Nazene picked up his rifle, which the emperor had dropped on the floor of the knoll. He watched the emperor rant and rave, pacing back and forth, his little cluster of guards and aides giving him a wide berth.

"Oh, please gods if I could only see a ship right now!" Yenhir moaned in despair, "I'd give up everything, even my planet, for sight of one friendly ship!"

As if in answer to the emperor's wish, there came a wild wind blowing the dust and grasses of the knoll into the faces of the emperor and his aides. It was accompanied by a wild groaning noise. All of them gaped at the sight of a tall blue box with a flashing light atop, materializing out of thin air.

The door creaked open, thin wisps of white smoke trailing outside into the air. The emperor and his entourage stepped back in alarm. Was this some new Decanese weapon?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A tall, thin man dressed in strange brown clothing emerged, followed by a woman with ginger hair.

"Hello!" the man said, smiling at them. "Lovely day for a picnic!"

There came the sound of drawn laser pistols and the cocking of weapons. Several of the imperial guardsmen abruptly took a firing stance, bringing their weapons to bear on the Doctor and Donna.

"You two." Ringstaff barked out, standing next to the emperor, who suddenly decided to stand behind the guardsmen. "Stay where you are. In the name of the emperor, I order you to put down your arms!"

"Ey?" The Doctor said, looking somewhat perplexed. "Well, we could do, except that we're not holding up our arms." He actually checked, to make certain of this. "Or, is this some sort of new party game?" The Doctor's face brightened, "I like games! What's this one called, "_Simple_ _Emperor Says_?"

Somehow, without seeming to, the Doctor had managed to shift his body so that it kept Donna out of the immediate line of fire. No one noticed, not even Donna. Her eyes were focused on the laser pistols and pulsar lances which six elaborately dressed imperial guardsmen had leveled at them.

"You dare to call His Imperial Lord simple-minded?" Ringstaff huffed, quite shocked at the Doctor's irreverence in the presence of the emperor.

"Well..." the Doctor said, giving an elaborate shrug, "won't know that 'till I talk to the chap, will I? But, in my experience with people who resort to violence to get their way—and trust me, I've got loads of that, it usually means that their kid's meal is probably short a few chips..."

" This is an outrage!" Ringstaff shouted.

"...and missing its toy action figure." The Doctor finished.

"Erm—Doctor," Donna nudged him. "Maybe now would be a good time for me to point out that those weapons are aimed at us."

"Are they?" The Doctor said, tugging on his ear and feigning surprise, "How very interesting. Oh" he said. His eyes darkened and narrowed, as he looked down at the dead aide. "A dead body. Who's that? The milkman? Got your order wrong, did he?"

"You will not take us alive!" Ringstaff announced pompously.

"You want us to take you..._dead_?" The Doctor said, raising an eyebrow. "That's a bit kinky, isn't it? I'm afraid necrophilia really isn't my thing. Sorry old chap."

Someone standing near Ringstaff snickered. The Commandant turned to see who it was, his face absolutely livid with rage. It had been Nazene, only he now assumed a nonchalant air, making a show of brushing the dirt from his gun. The emperor's aides were suddenly busy looking after their leader's needs, and of course the guards had their eyes on the two prisoners. In the background, the noise from the battlefield had almost ceased, with only a few scattered explosions and gunfire now and again.

"Look mate, whoever you think we are, we're not them." Donna said, suddenly impatient with the Doctor's slowness in handling the situation. She stalked up to Ringstaff before the Doctor could stop her. "We came here by accident, we don't want to bother anybody. Trust me, if I'd known this place was gonna' be full of paranoid, boring, macho military types, I would'a stayed in the TARDIS playing Tetris on my mobile."

Ringstaff ignored Donna and gave the Doctor a hard stare. Some of the guns and lances of the imperial guardsmen now wavered in her direction, though.

"Er—yeah, what she said." The Doctor agreed. Making no sudden moves, he reached over and gently pulled Donna back to his side.

"I've had enough of this. Guards! Kill them!" Ringstaff ordered.

The Doctor's face abruptly looked concerned, as he put himself once more protectively in front of Donna.

"Wait!" Came another voice from behind the group of aides.

The guards immediately lowered their weapons. It was Yenhir. With his crown once more sitting properly on his head, and his robes properly draped, albeit still dirty, he strode in front of Ringstaff.

"If these people ain't with the Dacanese, then, old friend," the emperor told Ringstaff, unconsciously lapsing into his fake commoner's voice, "you and I can take their ship. Hell, they can always get another one. Mind you, it's a bit chav looking for someone of my excellent taste and social standing..."

"Oi!" The Doctor said in protest. He was ignored.

"...but begabonds can't be choosy." The emperor continued. "We'll use it to escape from here. Dacana won't recognize the ship as one of ours, and will probably let it go. You know what a mob of soft liberally minded pacifists that lot are."

"Excuse me." Donna blurted out to the emperor. "But are you actually talking about car-jacking the TARDIS? This lot may call you king, sunshine, but if you think it's OK to steal somebody else's transport, then all you are is just some cheap gangster."

"No, Donna, don't..." The Doctor murmured, placing a warning hand upon her shoulder.

Watching the exchange, Nazene decided he really liked this oddly dressed couple. In the past few minutes, he was beginning to see his planet's leader in a new light, and was liking what he saw, less and less.

"Ya' know, Ringstaff," the emperor said, disdaining to look at either Donna or the Doctor," I think you had the right idea in the first place. Kill these people, take their ship, and then let's book the hell on outta' here before the Dacanese even know we're gone." He nervously glanced down the valley, where the sound of scattered explosions was getting closer to the hidden knoll. "Kill them now, while we still have time to get away."

Of course, the Doctor knew that they couldn't, in fact, pilot the TARDIS. Without a key, they wouldn't even be able to open the door. He wasn't about to tell them that, though. However, before Ringstaff could give the imperial guardsmen the command to shoot, Nazene stepped forward.

"Permission to speak, sire!" He said, kneeling down in front of the emperor.

"How dare you address the emperor directly!" Ringstaff blustered, raising his gloved fist to strike at the sergeant.

"It's OK, Ringstaff, let's hear what this soldier has to say..." the emperor sniffed, "...if he displeases me, we can always shoot him before we leave. Permission to speak granted, soldier."

"My Lord Emperor," Nanzene said respectfully, bowing his head, "I was only going to ask for the honour of taking these two interlopers into the valley, so that I might execute them in full sight of the Dacanese army. This will demonstrate to them that we'll give no quarter to prisoners. It would also allow your guardsmen no distractions from their their task. That is, of course, protecting the safety of your most imperial person, my Lord Emperor."

Though he kept his face neutral, the Doctor's eyes brightened with hope. Away from this crowd, maybe he and Donna might have a chance to escape.

"Permission granted, soldier. Take these two away for execution." The emperor said. Then, dismissing Nazene and his two prisoners from his mind, he turned and spoke to Ringstaff.

"Have my aides bring up my papers and other belongings to this here ship." The emperor ordered, jerking his thumb in the direction of the TARDIS. I'll wait here with my guards." Ringstaff began to protest, but Emperor Yenhir waved him away. "I order you to make sure that all my stuff is taken out of my command headquarters. Last thing I need is one of Dacana's leftist journalists getting hold of my personal papers." Commandant Ringstaff, the emperor's most senior staff member, head of his army and oldest friend, again began to stammer his protests, but Yenhir cut him off. "Look, you beer-brained space barnacle, last time I checked, I'm still your boss, yeah? Now shut up and go!"

That was the last the Doctor and Donna heard of the emperor, for the soldier who'd asked to execute them, was now motioning to them with his rifle. He indicated for them to move off the knoll. As they walked away from the TARDIS, the soldier curtly commanded them, _'in the name of the emperor_' to put their hands on their heads.

"See, what'd I say? Party games! Just like 'Simple Simon!'" The Doctor said to Donna, as they were frog marched, fingers laced over their heads, down towards the battle zone in the valley.

"Yeah? Well, I hope they're not planning to use us as pinata's." Donna muttered.

"Oooh, I love pinatas, especially the one's that look like _Thomas the Tank Engine._" The Doctor smiled.

"Silence!" Nazene bellowed, prodding the Doctor's back with his rifle.

They walked a good fifteen minutes, until the knoll where the TARDIS had landed was well out of sight. They were now in another shallow ravine near the bottom of the valley floor. Sergeant Nazene ordered the Doctor and Donna to halt.

"Can I put my hands down now?" Donna complained. "I mean, it's not like I'm gonna' shoot you with my finger, am I?"

"Not unless you're an Auton." The Doctor said, giving her an odd look. Then he shook his head. "Nah! The Nestine wouldn't dare. You'd break their machine."

"Oi!" Donna protested, nudging the Doctor's ear with her elbow.

"Ow!" The Doctor said, "What I'd do?"

"Hang on a sec. The nesting...what?" She turned and asked the Doctor.

"You, lady, are going to be quiet!" Nazene said severely.

"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and scuffing the dirt with his toe.

"Oi!" Donna said again, louder this time.

The Doctor ducked out of the way, just in case. Donna flashed Nazene a look.

"You have a problem with women?" She challenged the sergeant, putting her hands down and placing them on her hips. "Cos', in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the only one talking here."

"Shut up, or else!" The sergeant barked at her.

"Or else, what?" Donna demanded.

"You know, I haven't the foggiest idea." Nazene smiled, relaxing his body and cradling his rifle in his arms. "I only needed an excuse to get away from those idiots back there." He added, nodding in the direction of the knoll. "Though I gotta' say, sweetheart, you have made me wish that I'd brought a gag and a roll of utility tape along. Or at the very least, a set of ear plugs. Your man here must be very brave."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Donna quickly exclaimed.

"She's not my girlfriend!" The Doctor said at the same time.

Then the penny dropped. Donna looked at the soldier, surprise and suspicion showing on her face.

"You mean you're letting us go?" Donna asked, somewhat confused by this sudden change in the soldier's demeanor. "Just like that?"

Donna looked at the Doctor.

"Is this a trap or something?"

"Not this time, Donna." The Doctor smiled at her. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I think he means it."

"There's been enough dying here today." Nazene said, hefting his rifle. "Which reminds me, I'd better do something to convince them that I'd done the job." So saying, he pointed his laser-rifle in the air and shot off two rounds.

"And what are you going to do now?" The Doctor asked softly, a slight smile playing on his lips. His eyes looked at the soldier with kindness and gratitude. He knew the sergeant would be a dead man, if any of his people ever found out that he'd spared their lives.

"Dunno'." Nazene shrugged. "Maybe go around the battlefield, see if I can do anything for our wounded. Try not to be taken prisoner. By either side."

"Sounds like a good plan." The Doctor agreed. "I probably don't need to tell you this, but whatever you do, I'd stay away from the big chiefs back there. At least for a while. They won't be very happy when they find out they can't use my ship. In fact, they may send someone down here to see if we're still a..."

The Doctor never got to finish his sentence, because they were hit by a shower of dirt from a nearby explosion. All of them looked up to see half a dozen Dacanese chariot-ships coming over the horizon. They were flying in a V formation towards them, like some kind of large, metallic, demented geese. The ship in the lead was already firing its arrow-rockets. At the same time, there was a shout from the direction of the knoll, as several imperial guardsmen unslung their weapons and aimed them at the Doctor, Donna and Nazene.

"Donna, sergeant, I've only one thing to say at a time like this." The Doctor shouted, looking around frantically. They were now faced with both explosions and laser-blasts from two different directions.

"What's that?" Sergeant Nazene shouted back, ducking as another explosion near the ravine sprayed dirt over them.

"Run!" Donna yelled

"Hang on, that's my line!" The Doctor scolded her indignantly, as they crouched down to make smaller targets and literally ran for their lives.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dodging explosions and laser fire, the Doctor, Donna and Nazene ran doubled over, trying to get as much protection as they could from the ravine. Sometimes brush grew along the sides of it, affording better cover.

Yet, there was just as often no extra protection at all. It was a natural, uneven trench, taking a fairly straight course through the lowest sections of land between two grassy hillsides. A bright blue globe of energy from a guardsman's pulsar lance shattered a rock somewhere ahead of them into shard-like projectiles. They all flinched, but thankfully no one was hurt because the pieces flew over their bent bodies.

"Now I know how Quasimodo felt!" Donna shouted breathlessly, to no one in particular. She yelped with alarm and fright, when a supercharged red bolt from one of the imperial guardsman's laser pistols came perilously close to scorching her back. "Though I gotta' tell ya Doctor. I don't fancy this planet's idea of laser surgery."

"Donna! Save your breath for running!" The Doctor warned her.

It was about as close as the Doctor had ever come to telling her to shut the hell up. Which meant that he was genuinely worried about their chances of escape.

"Sergeant, how well do you know this valley?" The Doctor called back to Nazene, who was bringing up the rear. "Where does this ravine go? Are there any caves or canyons or a city close by?"

"I only had a brief glimpse of a map before the battle, Doctor. If we are where I think, there should be some woods somewhere up ahead. Beyond that there's a few farms. If we can get there. It might give us someplace to hide." Nazene told him, throwing up a hand to ward off another exploding spray of dirt, as a Dacanese arrow-rocket hit tore a man-sized hole into the grassy hillside, close to the ravine.

Only one chariot ship had stayed around to pursue them, the others having gone off to seek out pockets of enemy resistance. However, one ship was enough. And its pilot, while thankfully not terribly accurate at hitting moving targets, sooner or later would likely score a hit if he kept at it long enough. Arrow-rockets were similar to bottle rockets on earth, only these could be aimed like crossbow bolts from a bracket mounted gun on the front of the ship. They contained a small, high-powered explosive charge.

"Right, you two! Come on then, quick jog 'round the next bend, _allons'y_!" The Doctor shouted.

As they continued to run, Donna, not for the first time since joining the Doctor in the TARDIS, was truly thankful for the inventions of workout videos and comfortable trainers.

It was a patch of woodland bordering some pastures and plowed fields which they eventually came to. He and the others climbed out of the ravine. It had gradually widened and became far deeper as it entered the woods. The three of them followed along the edge of it, until it became more shallow again, gradually petering out near a small stream.

Reassuring Donna that he'd be right back, the Doctor and Nazene had set off to find a way through the woods. After he and Nazene had split up, going in opposite directions on a reconnaissance through the woods, the Doctor climbed up a tree for a look around. Gazing through the wide, spreading branches of an old tree, the Doctor spied a dirt track leading out of the woods.

The wooded glade where the Doctor had left her, seemed strangely quiet to Donna, after all the gunfire and explosions. Cool dappled shade and a gentle breeze made the place seem even pleasant. Donna was sat on a fallen tree, listening to the mellow chuckle of water as it riffled over stones in the stream bed. Sighing, she rubbed her sweaty face with her sleeve, trying to catch her breath. The Doctor, seeing how winded she was, had firmly insisted that she rest for a bit. For once, Donna didn't argue. Much.

A bird which sounded like a skylark sang merrily in a clear, ringing voice, somewhere deep in the woods. The sound was incongruous to Donna. Sitting on the log, she looked in the bird's direction, wondering at the serenity of this place. It suddenly reminded her of a holiday that her dad, Geoff, had taken her on in Wales, when she was a girl. At first she'd balked at the thought of boring treks through the mountains and sleeping in a tent, but her dad had made it wonderful.

Donna wondered why she had forgotten that bank holiday weekend, camping with her dad. On their walks, he had taken the time to show his daughter how nature was continually in flux; serene and exciting, terrible and beautiful. She thought about how her dad had told her that nature was always changing, every second of every day, no two moments exactly alike. Donna smiled. Just like the Doctor was showing her that the universe followed much the same pattern.

A shadow loomed over her. Donna turned around and looked up, expecting to see the Doctor. She opened her mouth to nag him about what time it was. However, it wasn't the Doctor. Standing directly behind her was a very angry looking imperial guardsman, with his pulsar lance aimed dead centre at her back.

"Get up you! Turn around and face me!" the man said gruffly.

For once, Donna didn't argue and did what she was told.

The tall, blond young man was breathing heavily and sweating. The brass buttons down the centre of his dark green and black uniform jacket and the white shirt underneath, were both half undone, revealing a muscular hairy chest. Donna couldn't help staring. She fleetingly wondered what the man would be like with those tight-fitting trousers off.

"Our Lord Emperor cannot access your ship. Where is the key, girl?" The guardsman asked impatiently.

"How should I know, Buttons? I'm not the designated driver on this pub crawl." Donna answered haughtily, trying to stall for time. She had a key to the TARDIS, but she wasn't about to let some thug, however easy on the eye he was, steal her only ride home.

"If you won't give me the key, I'll just have to take it off your dead body." The guardsman sneered, thumbing the button which primed his weapon for firing.

"_Damn_. _Guess I should've given him the key._" Donna thought ironically. Scared, she braced herself for the worst.

Before the guardsman could fire his weapon though, a small, tight, bright red hole burned from his back through to his chest. She stared in horror, as the puzzled man dropped his weapon and looked down at his smoking shirt. Eyes widening in realization, he clutched at his chest and shrieked with pain. As his body collapsed like a marionette with cut strings, the guardsman died before he hit the floor. Staring at the body lying at her feet, Donna suddenly felt sick.

"No!" The Doctor yelled, running up to Sergeant Nazene, who'd fired the shot from behind a nearby tree. "You didn't need to do that!" He told the man, anger burning in his eyes. "I thought you said you'd seen enough killing today?"

"What was I supposed to do, let him kill her?" Nazene shouted back. He stooped to pick up the pulsar lance. "Well, as least you can arm yourself now."

The Doctor put out a hand and stopped him.

"No, don't do that. No weapons." He shook his head firmly. "And just to make myself perfectly clear, never-ever-ever any weapons. Of any kind. In fact, I'd be a lot happier if you got rid of yours."

"That's not going to happen, mister." Nazene said, shaking his head. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. "In fact, I'm starting to wonder if you two aren't really working for the Dacanese. I mean, that chariot ship pilot could have been deliberately pulling his shots. To make it look good, ya'know."

"Or," the Doctor reasoned, "he could've been near-sighted and a really bad shot. Maybe his parents never bought him _Duck Hunt_ for Christmas."

"No, no, no. I'm not buying that." Nazene shoot his head vehemently. "There's something different about you two. You remind me of my parents."

"We're not married." The Doctor and Donna said simultaneously, pointing to each other.

"But why would us being like your parents be a bad thing?" The Doctor asked.

"Because my parents were always sending me away anytime they wanted to discuss something they didn't want me to overhear. They were eventually imprisoned. For planning treason against the empire of Torsaaga. I turned them in myself" Nazene admitted grimly. "But I won't wait for your treachery. I'll just off you right here and now, in the woods. Save the empire the cost of a trial."

"Is it me Doctor, or is everyone on this planet completely flippin' paranoid?" Donna asked him. "He's even scared of us, now."

"I'm not afraid of you. Just very careful about whom I choose to breathe the same air with. Last time I looked, a couple of Dacanese spies weren't on my list. I hate people like you" The sergeant said, stepping back so he could keep them both in his sights. "I don't know either one of you. Far as I know, you're just trying to get me off-guard. So you can get at my gun."

"Hating people you don't even know? Worrying about us taking away your gun? Sounds a lot like fear to me, sunshine." Donna said archly.

The Doctor shushed Donna. Trying to reason with someone who seemed to be completely unreasonable was his bread and butter. Stepping closer to Nazene, he smiled and held out his hand.

"Oh come on, we're your friends! I know you've grown used to having a weapon," the Doctor said in a quiet, even tone, "but there comes a time when you will eventually have to put it away and get on with your life You've never seen me with a weapon in my hand. And you never will. Come on, sergeant, put down the gun and let's find someplace safe to hide. You, me and Donna. Together."

In answer, Sergeant Nazene's arms snapped up, and he squinted down the barrel of his laser rifle at the Doctor.

"Oh no you don't, Doctor! Die you Dacanese scum!" He snarled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Neatly stepping to one side, the Doctor's outstretched hand snatched away Nazene's gun with reflexes so quick, that the gun was gone before the sergeant fully realized it. "Give me that!" The Doctor said, scowling like a disgusted parent. "Shooting people isn't nice. Besides, you could poke your eye out shooting one of these things!" The Doctor casually threw the rifle over his shoulder. It landed with a thunk and a splash in the middle of the stream.

Dusting off his hands like a man who had just completed an unpleasant task satisfactorily, he turned his back on the soldier. Treating Nazene as if he'd just given him a time out in the naughty corner. The Doctor strode off into the woods, apparently with a definite destination in mind.

"Coming, Donna?" He asked, not bothering to look behind him to see if anyone was following.

Donna did follow, but after going a short way, she paused and looked behind her. Nazene was stood there, hands hanging listlessly at his side, looking for all the world like the Doctor had just taken away his favourite toy.

"Are you just gonna' stay there doing your imitation of a petrified tree?" She asked caustically. But then, giving him a half smile, Donna moved her head in the Doctor's direction. "Come on then, soldier boy. If we don't catch up, he'll probably go off and have a good time on his own. He'll forget all about us, and end up going home with somebody else. I hate it when blokes do that."

"Would not!" Came a shout from the Doctor, still walking up ahead.

"Have you got like, I dunno', bat ears or something?" Donna asked him when she and Nazene caught up with him. "Cos' if you do, I'm gonna' have to be careful what I say around you, from now on."

"You mean such as, _'you look like a number two pencil with really wonky hair_?'" The Doctor suggested playfully, in a Donna-ish voice.

"Er—yeah." Donna sighed, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No worries, Donna." He smiled, as he strode along the track. "Not everyone can do this 'do. I have to stick my finger in an electrical outlet every morning. And don't get me started on how hard it is to find a good hair gel made from cow slobber."

"Glad I never had any desire to run my fingers through that hair." Donna said.

Anyway," the Doctor continued, refusing to look at Nazene, yet speaking his thoughts aloud for the soldier's benefit, "this track leads to a farmhouse up ahead, but I think we'll leave this road and go in from behind. I've a funny feeling our pursuers haven't given up on us quite yet. Or maybe that funny feeling is just the curry I had for dinner last night." The Doctor hit his diaphragm a couple of times, then put his hand up to his mouth, giving a small belch. "Excuse me." He said. "Yeah, definitely the curry, then."

"You think it might be a trap or something?" Donna asked, glimpsing a splash of white through the trees, which she assumed was a building.

"I don't know, Donna. But even I believe sometimes that it's better to be safe than sorry.'" he shrugged, "Either way, heigh-ho, on we go."

The farm lay quiescent, its low whitewashed cottage seemingly abandoned. Boards had been hastily thrown across the windows of the home, but the front door had been left wide open. Some odds and ends of discarded clothing and cooking utensils lay scattered on the floor of the yard. The only signs of life seemed to be near the barn. A few birds which resembled fluffy lavender coloured chickens pecked in the dirt in a desultory fashion. In front of the barn door, a sleek tabby cat was sat in the sunshine, fastidiously washing a white front paw.

While Donna and the Doctor were checking the inside of the cottage, Sergeant Nazene had gone to explore the barn. Taking off his helmet, he'd climbed up into the loft under the roof, and was looking for a possible hiding place.

Hearing a rustling in the hay, he prodded it with his foot, thinking it was a rat. He didn't mind rats, he used to have a pet rat, named Willard. But Donna might not be so well disposed towards them. All of the sudden, his foot nudged something soft and solid. It gave a little yelp of surprise. Well, he thought, he wasn't too far off. It was a rat alright, but not the kind with four feet and a tail.

"Come on out of there, Commandant. It's only me. Sergeant Nazene." He sighed.

He heard the Doctor call from down below, asking if he'd found anything.

"Yes, but not what I'd hoped for." Nazene called down to him. He watched in amusement, as Commandant Ringstaff rose bottom first from the hay, as if unused to getting up from a floor. "Come on, you." the sergeant said, taking the man by the elbow, "Let's get you down from here and see what you have to say for yourself." He sighed. "If only the people of the empire could see you lot as you really are. Bet they'd think twice before cheering the country on to war."

The two of them got down from the loft, Nazene helping Ringstaff, who seemed quite unused to climbing down a ladder. The Doctor and Donna looked at each other in surprise, recognizing this as the man they last saw on the knoll, being taken down a peg by his emperor. He didn't look quite so dignified now, with bits of hay clinging to his beard, and to his formally pristine military uniform. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost the high, ridiculous looking hat he'd been wearing on the knoll.

"What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked, "Finally told your boss to sod off and do his own dirty work, did you? Good for you!"

"Why are you with these people, sergeant?" Ringstaff asked stiffly, ignoring the Doctor. "I thought you told the emperor you were going to execute them?"

"Meh—changed my mind, didn't I?." Nazene answered carelessly.

Ringstaff chose to ignore the soldier's attitude. He began pacing up and down, his mind so preoccupied, he didn't even notice the horse dung getting on his highly polished boots.

"Well, you can forget them, we've got bigger problems, you and I." Ringstaff said dismissively. "Get rid of them and attend to me."

"Oi!" Donna said, shouldering her way past Nazene, and getting right into Ringstaff's face. "He's with us, general jackarse. We're his friends!"

"Listen ginger," Ringstaff sniffed, physically pushing Donna away from him with the tips of his fingers, as if she had some offensive odour. "when I want to hear from some loud brassy-brained female, I'll go down to the Red Light Tavern of an evening and purchase myself a shadowed woman."

"Are you calling me a stupid wh—" A shocked and angry Donna gasped.

"Tell me Ringstaff," the Doctor interrupted, calmly stepping between the two of them and staring down at the man, "do you kick puppies and take candy away from children? Stalk women on the web? Push the handicapped down stairs? Steal pension money from little old grannies?"

"Erm—no, no. Of course not." Ringstaff stammered, stepping back from the Doctor.

"Then don't you _ever_ talk to Donna that way." The Doctor said, his eyes glittering with a Time Lord's anger. "She's my friend, and she's brave and clever and so much more than you could ever be, even on the best day of your life. And if I were you right now, I would make every effort to do the right thing and apologize to her, before I really lose my temper." He said, before turning his back on Ringstaff.

Facing Donna, the Doctor winked and gave her a lopsided grin. Donna managed to keep a straight face, but her eyes shone with gratitude. None of her friends had ever stuck up for her like that, before. She always had to fend for herself.

"My apologies, my lady." Ringstaff said, bowing. His face was pale. Though the Doctor hadn't once raised his voice or even made a threatening gesture, he had thoroughly frightened the man. "I spoke rashly and was impolite to you. I did not mean to cause offense."

"I really can't abide a bully. Disgusting creatures." The Doctor murmured, keeping his back to the man. Then he turned around. "Hang on a minute." He said, tilting his head in curiosity. "Ringstaff, you said you and the sergeant here had bigger problems. What did you mean?"

As the four of them seated themselves around the kitchen table inside the cottage, Ringstaff explained why he'd been hiding in the barn loft. Ringstaff was sat at the far end of the table. With his clasped hands resting on the table, the man's head bowed down, Donna thought he looked like he was praying. To the Doctor, the man suddenly looked old and tired.

"I'd been Yenhir's friend and confidant since we were boys at school. I owe everything to him. I've put up with his boorish ways more times than I can remember." Ringstaff said, shaking his head, looking like he was truly baffled. "How he treated me today, was different. The emperor had changed, somehow. Not just scared. I think..." the man's tongue licked his suddenly dry lips, as his voice dropped to a whisper. "...I think the emperor's gone quite mad."

Nazene rolled his eyes and pushed back his chair. He got up and walked to the front door, which was standing ajar, and looked outside.

"What's changed?" The Doctor asked.

"Yenhir didn't really hate the Dacanese. Truth is, he didn't actually care one way or the other about them. He'd never even been to this planet, until this morning. The emperor wanted to be here for the final battle, so he could take all the credit. You know, be shown live on national vid-media, waving the victory flag." Ringstaff snorted. "Well, you all saw how well that went. And, I'm afraid, it was all down to me. I'm to blame. It was me who ordered the auxiliary troops to the wrong position. And, I told the emperor's backup ships to go back home."

"You bastard!" Nazene growled, turning his head to give Ringstaff an ugly stare. "Do you have any idea how many good, loyal Torsaaga soldiers died because of what you did?"

"If we'd won, the emperor would've let the soldiers loose on Dacana like a pack of wild doggenbeasts, to do terrible things."

"Why would someone like you care about that?" Nazene said. He turned to stare out the door. He didn't really care what this pompous ass had to say anymore.

"I couldn't allow that. I think our people, our planet would suffer, far more than the people of Dacana." The man, looked at the Doctor, trying to put his feelings into words.

"Doctor, ours is supposed to be a civilized planet. We have rules and laws which are the foundation which shores up that civilization. If we begin to behave like mindless beasts to the people here, I believe it would be the catalyst which would crumble that foundation, and we'd start doing those things to each other." He sighed and shook his head. "Still, I don't suppose one man can make a difference, now."

"So you didn't turn traitor because you actually care what might happen to the people who live here.

Donna said, frowning. "You're just worried about your own world."

"What's happened to the Dacanese has happened. I can't do anything to change that now. If I'd gone against the emperor's plans I would've booted out of office and lost everything. Possibly even my life, if the emperor had decided to pitch one of his tantrums." Ringstaff said defensively.

"But, something tells me," the Doctor conjectured, "that isn't the only reason why you're here, is it?"

"No. The emperor is planning something that will kill us all. Ringstaff said ominously. "I was trying to contact the Dacanese resistance, but ran into a squad of imperial guardsmen, down in the valley."

"What is it, what's happened?" The Doctor asked urgently, his face suddenly showing grave concern.

"When Dacana sent a diplomatic contingent to negotiate the surrender of our army, the emperor welcomed them into his headquarters. He acquiesced to everything they asked for, with only one provision." Ringstaff wiped his brow. He suddenly looked nervous and had begun to sweat. "That after negotiations were completed, they provide him with a ship to return home to Torsaaga with. While waiting for the ship to arrive, the emperor then played the gracious loser, and offered them some refreshment. The drinks were poisoned. Hiding the bodies, the emperor called the ship's pilot into his headquarters on some pretext. The pilot was also killed, and last I saw, one of the emperor's men was putting on the pilot's clothing, with an aim at taking over the ship."

"Remind me never to have dinner and drinks with the emperor." Donna said dryly.

"Quiet, Donna." The Doctor said, but not rudely. He leaned forward worry creasing his brow, having noticed Ringstaff's agitated emotional state. "Why did you say, that one man can't make a difference now? What's going to happen?"

"Before I...got away, the emperor had confided in me, what he intended to do. He was shocked and frightened at our sudden change of fortune. He always thought that he was invincible, that nothing could touch him. I think it's affected his mind, Doctor. He said he was going to go home and initiate the Red Phase One. That's otherwise known as The Final Solution. Total instantaneous destruction of a planet. In this case, it's to be Dacana."

"What the hell!" Donna gasped. "This planet's about to go up in flames, and you're just sitting here nattering away like we're at some flippin' ladies lunch? Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Typical bastard politician." Nazene muttered, not bothering to turn around. The sun was setting, painting white, gold and rose coloured ribbons across a soft blue sky. He used to like sunsets. He wondered if the mind held memories of things like this, after you died. But maybe that would be too cruel. Perhaps this was the last sunset he would ever see. Nazene suddenly shuddered for no reason. Turning to look at Donna, he said,. "Ringstaff is more concerned about justifying his actions, Donna, rather than worry about the consequences of them."

"Doctor, I don't know what to do." Ringstaff said, spreading his hands helplessly. "If I could get off this planet and back to Torsaaga to stop him, I would. But, there's no time. The emperor's already left. It's a four hour flight back to my planet. He'll be more than halfway there by now. We're all dead, no matter what planet we're on."

"What does he mean, Doctor?" Donna asked, liking the sound of this less and less.

"The two planets." The Doctor said grimly. "They're too close together. If this one is destroyed, a lot of the debris will be sucked into Torsaaga's orbit. Huge chunks of this world will enter the atmosphere, and be pulled towards the planet below."

"You mean, like the Big Bang Theory back home on earth? All life being wiped out?" Donna asked.

"Exactly like that." The Doctor sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Only with the amount of debris generated by this planet's destruction, nothing will survive. Not even the planet. Chances are, that will eventually begin breaking up, as well."

"You mean everyone on both planets is dead, no matter what." she said, suddenly afraid.

The Doctor said nothing, and Donna wasn't sure he had heard her.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean, Donna." Was the Doctor's final, chilling answer.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"But Doctor, what about the TARDIS?" Donna asked abruptly.

His head jerked up, then he leaned over towards Donna and kissed the top of her head. Getting up from the cottage's kitchen table, the Doctor stood and smiled down at Ringstaff.

"Never say never. That's my motto." The Doctor paused and thought about that. "Well, it should be my motto. Or maybe it should be "_Smile if you love running!_ Or maybe I shouldn't have a motto.

Makes me sound like I'm flogging athletic trainers. What do you think, Donna?"

"What are you on about, Doctor?" Ringstaff asked, thoroughly puzzled. "Didn't you believe me? I just told you that the world was ending."

"Of course I believe that you believe that the world is coming to an end." He replied, looking suddenly energized, "But you know what I didn't believe, Ringstaff? It's what you said before that, that one man can't make a difference. Because not only do I think that one man can indeed make a difference, I think that three men and a woman—" the Doctor flashed Donna a grin, "can make all the difference for worlds."

"You really think that, Doctor?" Asked Nazene from the doorway, a pensive look on his face.

"Yeah, sergeant, I do. If you'll help, I think we can stop the emperor from destroying two worlds in one go." The Doctor said, looking the man straight in the eye for the first time since the incident in the woods.

"The First thing we need to do," The Doctor said, as the four of them left the cottage, "is find a way back to my ship. I can get us there before the emperor arrives. Or before he left. Or before his great-great-great granddad was born. Meh—better not, though." The Doctor said, rubbing his neck pensively. "Wouldn't do to mess up the time lines. Then we'd have the whole universe to worry about. But, I promise you. Once we get to my ship, I can get us back to your home planet, and stop the emperor from sending those bombs."

"But, your ship is a couple of miles from here, Doctor." Ringstaff said, following on the Doctor's heels like a worried terrier, "We'd have to go through enemy territory. In the dark. On foot. It's impossible!"

"Ringstaff, If I stopped to worry about impossibilities," the Doctor scoffed, " I'd never have bothered to regenerate. I'd of turned to dust over forty years ago. And, Donna here would be Racnoss Chow."

Ey?" Nazene asked, wondering if the strain had harmed the Doctor's mind.

"Racnoss? A mythological creature? Honestly, Doctor." Ringstaff jeered. "Next you'll be saying you've met the devil himself."

"Well, actually..." The Doctor admitted.

"I thought you were taking the mickey, back on the Ood planet." A suddenly gobsmacked Donna interjected, tugging on the Doctor's sleeve to get his attention. "You mean you really have?"

"Poppindoodle!" Ringstaff snorted.

"You've met the devil, alright, Doctor." Nazene muttered darkly. "Only his name is Emperor Yenhir."

"Weren't you scared?" Donna asked.

" QUIET!" The Doctor shouted. Everyone shut up. "Thank you. You two. Sergeant, Ringstaff." The Doctor instructed crisply, "Make yourselves useful. Go and see if you can find anything resembling a mode of transport around here. Before it gets too dark to see."

"Donna! With me." The Doctor told her, as he hurried off to look in a large shed behind the barn. Donna followed him, hoping he was right about getting to the other planet in time.

m

"Poppindoodle?" The Doctor said, stopping so abruptly that Donna almost walked into his back. "There's a word I've never heard before. That's brilliant! I love new words."

"Made your day, has it?" Donna said raising her eyebrows, and brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. For all his genius, sometimes it felt like the Doctor had the attention span of a puppy.

"Yes. Yes it has. Though I have to admit, it's not nearly so good a word as 'flapenboggle.'" The Doctor admitted, carrying on towards the shed. "And no, I wasn't."

"Wasn't what?" Donna asked, mystified.

"Scared of the devil. Because I had my best friend with me. Exactly like I do, right now." He said, taking Donna by the hand and jauntily striding forward.

Nazene having already searched the barn earlier, went to check out some outbuildings near the livestock pens. Ringstaff decided to see if there was anything behind the cottage. Though the sun had just set, it was still light enough to see in the farmyard. Yet, the deep woods and darkly shadowed places had already donned the cloak of night.

The Doctor carefully swung back the large wooden shed doors, using the torch setting on his sonic screwdriver to see inside. Donna was behind him, standing on tip-toe, trying to peer over his shoulder. He entered the building. It smelled faintly of pseudo-petrol. He decided that might be a good sign. A huge plastic tarp lay draped over some kind of large, bulky object in the centre of the floor.

The Doctor asked Donna to help him remove the tarp. Donna began to lift it, when she saw a movement. She gave a startled cry. There was a man's frightened voice saying, "_Oh no_!" from under the tarp, which was followed by a young woman's voice saying, "_Eep_!"

Donna and the Doctor looked at each other. They shrugged, and lifted the tarp higher.

"It's alright." The Doctor said kindly, squinting into the darkness under the plastic covering, "you can come out of there. We don't have any weapons, we won't hurt you. I give you my word. We're friends."

Two figures emerged from under the tarp. Donna's eyes widened at what she saw. They were human in appearance, only with deeply tanned shiny artificial skin. The man had dark wavy hair, and the woman's hair was long and blond. Both wore matching tight-fitting light blue jumpsuits with white trim. The man's appearance was young was handsome, with a body like a football player. The woman was about the same age, and looked like a super model. Both had blue eyes, but they didn't blink and their faces had fixed happy expression on them, though the lips were designed to move. They were androids.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor and this is Donna. Are you two alright? What are you doing here all on your own?" The Doctor asked.

"We are functioning normally, thank you Doctor." Said the man, bowing formally. He had a pleasant, masculine voice. "Though our emotion chips were ready to short circuit. We've never been left on our own before. Our owners, the Browns, decided to leave in a hurry. Their neighbour's...their name is Spott, rang them up, with news that there was to be a big battle in the valley."

"But it still didn't keep the mister from leaving us here to fend for ourselves. And the cat. And the chickens. I ask you. Have you ever heard of anything so irresponsible?" The woman complained.

"Mr. Brown was most apologetic though, you must admit." The man said to her.

In the first few seconds she'd met them, Donna had been a bit weirded out by the fixed expressions on the two androids faces, but now that they'd begun talking, Donna realized that she was already forgetting about that. They seemed as a comfortable with each other as some old married couple.

"I agree with you, sweetheart, that wasn't very nice of them, leaving you here. What if we'd been soldiers or something?" Donna said to the woman. "Do you two have names? I mean, what do I call you?"

"Oh, forgive my manners. I must be getting hay dust in my cortex circuitry." The android woman responded. "I am Barbeede's android model Oh-five-eight-one," she said, pointing at herself, "and this useless pile of bolts standing next to me is Kendliss manufacturing android model Six-five thousand. But the Brown's simply call us Barbie and Ken."

"Barbie and Ken? Android Barbie and Ken? You're kidding me!" Donna exclaimed, trying hard not to laugh. She looked at the Doctor. He was pretty much in the same condition.

"Now you can really one up that childhood friend who had Malibu Barbie with the beach house and the sports car." The Doctor said as an aside to her, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Did I say something to cause alarm?" A bewildered Barbie asked.

"Oh, no, no. It's fine." Donna said reassuringly.

"Anyway," The Doctor asked, rubbing the side of his eye trying to maintain a serious demeanor, "we were wondering if you might know where we could find some sort of transport? I need to get back to my ship, but it's a few miles from here. We'd be happy to take you with us, if you'd like."

Barbie and Ken went to opposite sides of the tarp. They lifted it off, revealing a large, futuristic looking tractor. It sort of reminded Donna of some farmer's modified hot-rod tractor she'd seen on display at a country fair, a few years ago. This one had chrome pipes coming out of the engine and was painted shiny red and black. It looked almost new.

The Doctor made an '_Ooooh_' noise, and ran his hand lovingly over the machine.

"Oh, you're not actually planning on..." Donna said.

The Doctor flashed her a ecstatic grin, chuffed as a boy who'd just been given a motor bike for Christmas.

"That's what I was afraid of." Donna sighed.

The Doctor, Donna and the two androids met Nazene and Ringstaff out in the farmyard. The Doctor explained that they'd found transport back to the TARDIS, and that they were taking the two androids with them.

"Fine by me." Nazene shrugged. "I just wanna' get the hell out of here."

"But they're nothing but of a pair of agricultural androids, what do we need them for?" Ringstaff protested. "They'll be just taking up space."

"What've you got against androids?" Donna demanded.

"It's nothing personal. I don't think it's not necessary for them to come with us, that's all. I mean, it's not like they're...people." Ringstaff told her.

"We can hear you!" Barbie said. "Last time I checked, androids didn't come with an invisibility cloak. We are programmed with feelings, you know."

"Artificial feelings." Ringstaff said, looking down his nose at her.

"I suppose ignorance does make your life so much simpler, doesn't it?" Ken sniffed. .

"Listen you." Donna told Ringstaff. "I'd rather have androids with feelings, than humans without them. And I'll tell you what else. I like them a whole lot better than I like you right now, buster."

"Alright, boys and girls," The Doctor intervened, "play nice! The androids are coming with me and Donna, so you can stay here or come along, Ringstaff, but I suggest that you make up your mind in the next ten seconds."

"Why, what happens in the next ten seconds, Doctor?" Donna asked, suddenly worried.

"Erm—them." The Doctor said, pointing towards the night dark woods, where three imperial guardsmen emerged in a row, pistols and pulsar lances aimed towards the group in the farmyard.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Oh my gods, they'll mow us down like vlotgrass!" Ringstaff cried, as the guardsmen formed up into a tighter line.

The three elaborately uniformed guardsmen began marching towards them in parade ground formation, guns leveled. Nazene gave a derisive snort. He silently observed that real soldiers would've been spread out more, so as to offer more difficult targets for the enemy. He reckoned the only battles these men had seen was on vid-media.

While everyone's eyes were focused on the approaching guardsmen, a shaken Ringstaff was reaching into a hidden pocket inside his blousy military tunic. He pulled out a small, compact laser pistol. Before Nazene or the Doctor could stop him, Ringstaff aimed the gun at one of the guardsmen and pulled the trigger.

"No!" the Doctor shouted. He ran, grabbing on to Donna and taking her with him. They dove behind a piece of farm equipment. "Run, Barbie!" He called out to the two androids. They'd been left standing there in the open, unsure what to do, never having been subjected to violence before. "Get her out of there, Ken! Both of you! Go to the cottage!"

Ken and Barbie instinctively obeyed the Doctor's orders as, with amazing speed, they bolted for the cottage and went inside, shutting the door behind them.

Ringstaff hit one guardsman with his first shot, killing the man. However, as soon as he had fired, the two remaining imperial guards began firing back. Nazene grabbed Ringstaff and dragged him out of the line of fire, into the barn. Unfortunately, it was not before a stray shot hit Ringstaff a glancing blow on the leg. The man cried out in pain and fear, as Nazene roughly shoved him into the sanctuary of the barn.

The two men crouched inside the doorway of the barn, moving back for the protection of its dark interior. The cat had disappeared, but the lavender chickens put up a massive protest at being disturbed, ruffling their feathers and squawking.

The Doctor could do nothing but watch.

"Give me that thing!" Nazene snarled, snatching away Ringstaff's little pistol. Stretching out his hand, the sergeant laid down a deadly swath of red laser beams towards the two guardsmen.

His face clouding over, the Doctor sighed. He hadn't wanted it to come to this. He'd hoped, by telling the guardsmen about the danger they were in from their own emperor, he might persuade them to help. But, that was soldiers for you. Give them a gun, and they just had to use it.

"Donna." The Doctor knelt down and looked seriously into Donna's eyes."I need to get out of here. You should be OK. Just stay put and keep your head down." He said, quietly but firmly.

"You're not going out there?" Donna asked, worried for the Doctor's safety.

"Standing here watching a reenactment of the shootout at the OK Corral, honestly isn't my thing." He smiled. "Been there, done that. Got Wyatt Earp's cowboy hat to prove it. Think it's in the TARDIS wardrobe somewhere."

"You'll only end up getting yourself killed." Donna said, trying to reason with him."You should stay here."

Staying here isn't going to get the sheep sheared, Donna." The Doctor said evenly. "Trust me. It'll be fine, I promise. I want to have a closer look at farmer Brown's Super Tractor."

"You're going to look at a tractor and then shear some sheep?" Donna shook her head, unsure if the Doctor was being literal, metaphorical, or both.

"Don't chicken out now, Donna. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. So don't have a cow about it. Are you detecting a theme here?" The Doctor said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Donna rolled her eyes at him. "_Baaaa_—_ad_ jokes?" The Doctor asked her, giving Donna a cheeky grin as he got up from behind the machinery and sprinted off.

"You've been spending way too much time in Wales, Doctor." Donna muttered, watching him make a dash for the shed.

The laser fire from the barn had died down. The two imperial guardsmen had split up. Only one was visible now, crouched down to make a smaller target, firing his pulsar lance at the barn. So far he'd only managed to hit one of the chickens. Nazene wondered where the other man had gone, but suspected he was probably looking for some sort of back door.

He was right. Both men ducked as from out of the darkness at the rear of the barn, a bright red laser beam lanced towards them. Nazene instinctively fired at the place where he'd seen the shot come from. There was a thump, a brief groan and the rustle of some hay, then all was still from within. The firing had stopped inside the barn, but the man outside was still sending round, blue pulsar bolts from his lance into the barn. Suddenly, the guard outside sensed that the inside man had failed, and, crouching down, he scuttled away, back into the safety of the woods.

There came a smell of smoke from somewhere in the barn. And within seconds, a trail of white smoke wafted by the two men. They heard the tabby cat give a yowl of fear, and then it dashed past them out of the barn door, a blur of gray and black fur streaking towards the woods. In seconds it was swallowed up by the darkness there. Nazene cautiously walked out into the farmyard, pistol at the ready. Ringstaff hung back. He glanced at the back of the barn, now filling with choking white clouds of smoke and the crackling sounds of the fire.

A shadowy orange glow lit up the back wall of the barn, and Ringstaff dithered a moment. Then, giving a deep breath as if in final resolve, he plunged into the smoky interior of the barn. It was hard to see, and Ringstaff began to cough. Suddenly, he tripped over something. It was the body of the imperial guardsman.

Kneeling gingerly, trying to shift his weight of his wounded leg, the former commandant took a closer a look at the body. He knew this man, but could not remember his name. Picking up the arm, Ringstaff felt for a pulse. Sighing, he shook his head and closed the man's eyes.

The heat was getting more intense now, the smoke almost blinding him and making breathing difficult. He'd stood and was about to get clear of the fire, when he stopped and picked up something the dead man had dropped. Coughing heavily, Ringstaff half-ran, half-stumbled out of the burning barn, pausing only long enough to shoo the frightened chickens out into the barnyard.

Ringstaff, still coughing, limped over to join Nazene in the barnyard. Donna and the two androids emerged from hiding and came over to them.

"They gone?" Donna asked.

"Yeah, looks like it." Nazene answered. "Though there may be one still lurking out there, so keep sharp."

"You OK?" Donna asked Ringstaff, noticing his injury.

"Yes, yes, I'll be fine, thank you my dear." The man said, giving her a tight smile. His face was sooty and his once immaculate clothing was now dirty. Bit's of hay clung to his posh military trousers.

All of the sudden, a red bolt from a laser pistol suddenly shot out from somewhere deep in the recesses of the woods, to burn a deep gouge into the dirt at their feet. Everyone jumped. Thankfully, the bad visibility brought on the the encroaching night, as well as the distance, made his aim poor.

Suddenly, there came a roar of engines. As they looked, the big shiny black and red souped up tractor came roaring out of the shed like a sports car. Seated in the driver's seat was the Doctor, grinning like madman.

"To the tractor!" Nazene shouted, "Come on!"

Before Donna could protest, Nazene grabbed her arm and dragged her along with him towards the big machine. Ken and Barbie ran, but Ringstaff's leg suddenly weakened, and he fell heavily to the floor. Laser fire sprayed the dirt around him. Leaving his former commandant behind, Nazene hauled Donna from one point of cover to another, slowly zig-zagging his way towards safety.

The Doctor had stopped the big, supercharged machine near a wooden-sided farm wagon, piled high with hay. Fortunately, the tractor was just out of the distant laser pistol's range of fire. But only just. Little geysers of dirt sprouted from the floor near the tractor's front wheels, as the hidden guardsman concentrated his fire on the Doctor. Leaping down from the driver's seat, the Doctor ran to the wagon. He hefted up the wagon tongue and was frantically hitching it on to the tractor.

Safely behind the tractor, Barbie looked at Ken. She held his hand and whispered something to him. He shook his head, no. She nodded vigorously, whispering something more. Ken's mouth frowned. He gave a begrudging shrug of consent, and bowed his head.

"Now don't you go jamming your circuits with worry, dear. Stay with the Doctor. I like him. He's kind of a neat old dude. He'll look after you until I get back." Barbie told him. .

Ringstaff was genuinely afraid. He was crawling along in the dirt, trying to drag himself towards the others. Donna saw him and wanted to help, but Nazene had such a iron grip on her arm, that she was unable to break free.

The Doctor thought he heard Donna yelling. He hadn't seen Nazene taking her with him, instead believing that she was still hiding where he'd left her. Concerned, the Doctor climbed up on to the machine and shut off the tractor's loud engine. Standing, he looked wildly around for Donna. He found her. Seeing Nazene dragging Donna bodily towards the tractor, the Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"Let go of me right now! Or so help me, I'm gonna' plant one of my trainers where it's definitely gonna' hurt!" Donna yelled. Nazene ignored her. "I mean you, sergeant Rambo. Ringstaff's hurt! Forget about me. You have to go back for him!"

"I have to get you to safety first. Ringstaff's a soldier..." Nazene barked out a laugh. "...Getting shot at is in the job description."

"I said, let go! Ow! You're hurting my arm. I'm warning you, so help me, you'd better turn your back when we get to where we're going. Even then, you won't be able to sit down for a week." Donna told him, still struggling.

"No. I have to get you to safety." He said obstinately, dragging Donna along, until they were both behind the tractor.

"Let her go, sergeant. Before I allow Donna do whatever she threatened." The Doctor said, angrily, coming up to them. "And knowing her, I have a good idea what that probably was." He said, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He reached over and gave Donna a quick hug. "Hello, Donna!" The Doctor smiled at her, "Have you seen my really big Super Tractor?"

"I couldn't just let her stand there and get shot at, could I?" Nazene said defensively. Averting his eyes, he turned away, muttering sullenly, "She's my friend too, you know. The only one I've got left. I want to keep this one alive."

"Where's Ringstaff?" The Doctor asked, suddenly aware that someone was missing.

Ringstaff was sure he was going to die in the next few seconds. The hidden guardsman's shots were getting closer and closer, as he found the range. The only thing saving him was the encroaching night, as stars began to appear in the sky.

Tears poured down Ringstaff's face as he looked at them. One of those stars was home. He wasn't going to be able to save his planet, after all. That made him feel so sad. Just then, Ringstaff realized someone was standing over him. He looked up, hopeful. It was Barbie.

"Don't be afraid, Mister Ringstaff. It's only me. I will get you back to your friends in safety." She said, her pink lips forming into a smile, to match the permanently cheerful expression on her artificially tanned face.

So saying, the android picked up Ringstaff by the arms, and pulled him towards the tractor. They'd almost got there, when a laser bolt hit Barbie square in the head, making it explode.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Everyone standing near the tractor heard Ken's wail of despair, and turned to look. Without hesitation, Ken dashed with astonishing speed, out into the barnyard. Taking up where Barbie had left off, he dragged Ringstaff to safety behind the hay wagon.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."." The Doctor said to Ken, who turned to stare at Barbie.

Before the Doctor had finished speaking, the android was already racing back to Barbie's body.

"No!Wait! Don't!" The Doctor shouted, wishing with both his hearts that he'd been able to stop this.

But, it was too late. Kneeling in the dirt, Ken cradled Barbie's headless body in his arms. Until another laser bolt from the woods, shot through his chest, leaving a smoking hole there. Ken's body stayed upright for a few seconds, before crumpling on top of her.

Donna looked at the Doctor, as he stared remorsefully at the bodies of the two androids. He looked so old and sad, all of the sudden. She reached over and took his hand. He looked down at her, and she nodded her head, her eyes trying to convey that she shared his feelings. She'd also come to like the two androids in the short time she'd known them. The Doctor slipped her a tiny smile of gratitude, and squeezed her hand, thinking, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have a friend like Donna.

"Now, before we do anything else, let's have a look at that leg, hmm—?." The Doctor said, turning to Ringstaff. He fetched out his glasses and his sonic screwdriver, and crouched down beside the wounded man.

"Donna, see if you can find a knife or a pair of scissors somewhere about." He said over his shoulder.

A few moment's search netted a pair of kitchen shears. Donna handed them to him. Carefully cutting up the man's trouser leg, the Doctor pulled the fabric carefully away from the wounds. Ringstaff hissed with pain. Apologizing, the Doctor slipped on the eyeglasses and ran the sonic over the man's leg. Ringstaff was sweating and breathing hoarsely. Donna had to look away. There was a nasty second degree burn, and a deep gash in the skin.

"Just hold still." The Doctor said softly. "This will only take a second. Won't hurt a bit." After checking the readings, he pocketed the sonic and his glasses and looked at Ringstaff.

"Don't worry." He said, giving the man a reassuring smile, "There's no permanent damage to the leg. First aid kit in the TARDIS will take care of the wound. I think I also can scrounge up some stuff you can put that burn. Smells like dung, but it'll stop the pain. You'll be up and about, before you know it. All ship shape in Bristol fashion. Or don't you army blokes fathom nautical terms?" The Doctor grinned at his own joke. "Get it? Fathom?"

"Thank you, Doctor. But, that...that android. 'Barbie'. She saved my life. I don't understand. Why did it do that?" Ringstaff asked, stifling a grown as the Doctor helped him to his feet.

"An offshoot of her prime directive, quite possibly. Never harm a human. Her programming wouldn't let her stand by and see you get hurt. Plus, I think she may have fancied you." The Doctor said, as he and Donna helped Ringstaff up into the hay wagon. "I bet Malibu Barbie couldn't resist a man in a uniform."

Climbing back down to the floor, the Doctor watched as Donna heaved herself over the top of wooden slats making up the sides of the wagon. She settled into the hay beside Ringstaff, fussing around a bit, helping him to get comfortable. Nazene was standing next to the tractor, keeping an eye trained on the woods, in case the guardsman decided to show himself.

"You coming sergeant? Or aren't you finished killing things yet?" The Doctor asked bitterly, as he clambered up into the driver's seat of the big tractor once more. "Alright everyone...," He called back to Donna and Ringstaff, "...welcome to the hay ride portion of our first annual End of the World picnic and fun fair. For your own safety, please keep your arms and legs inside the wagon at all times. Hang on! Off we go!" The Doctor called out. He used the sonic to re-start the engine.

Nazene grabbed hold and swung up onto the wagon, as the Doctor flipped on the tractor's head lamps. Clinging to the wooden slats on the side, the sergeant stared sullenly at the Doctor's back.

"I don't kill for fun, Doctor. I'm a soldier. That's my job." Nazene mumbled petulantly, knowing that even if the Doctor heard him, he probably would ignore it.

The Doctor slammed his foot down on the pseudo-petrol pedal. The machine gave a mighty roar, like a four-wheeled dragon. Showing an unusual amount of speed for a tractor, the machine took off out of the farmyard like a shot, nearly heeling over as it rounded the corner of the cottage. Donna and the others were hanging on to the wooden sides of the hay wagon for dear life. With its enormous wheels churning up the dirt, the tractor straightened out and roared down the track in the direction of the TARDIS.

A brisk night wind swept over the hidden knoll where the Doctor had left the TARDIS. It mercifully concealed the bodies of the dead advisor, the Dacanese diplomats and the pilot. Also, tucked away out of sight, were the bodies of the emperor's other advisors. They'd been systematically executed by the imperial guard, on some ridiculous trumped up charge which Yenhir had improvised, in his final moments before leaving for Torsaaga.

The only sounds were that of the wind and the harsh croak of a night bird, feasting on one of the bodies. Slowly, the silence of the dead was broken by the roar of the big tractor. Its head lamps sent twin beams of white light stabbing into the night, to tear apart the darkness.

As the Tractor came to the knoll, it stopped. Framed in the head lamp beams was the reassuring square blue shape of the TARDIS. The Doctor killed the lights, got down and unlocked the TARDIS door. Donna and the others piled out of the wagon, and one by one, entered the time ship.

Last to go inside was the Doctor, pausing just a moment to look wistfully at the tractor. Maybe when this was over, he could come back and drive Super Tractor back to farmer Brown's. Without the wagon. So he could do wheelies.

"Oi! Spaceman!" Donna shouted from inside. "I know you want to stay here and play with your new toy. But, we've got the end of the world to think of. Priorities, yeah?"

Regretfully, the Doctor stepped into the console room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He knew there was no going back, even if it did come out all right. There would be too many hard questions. Too many deaths to explain. And, in nine hundred and some odd years, he found that was one thing which never got any easier.

Lifting up a piece of metal decking, the Doctor hauled out the first aid locker. Instructing Ringstaff to sit in the jumpseat, he'd patched the man up in a matter of minutes. While he worked, Ringstaff gave him the various codes he'd need to stop the missiles. As the Doctor was putting the kit away, Donna took over, proudly showing the two men around the console room.

Donna was rattling on about the TARDIS to the two astonished men. The Doctor smiled to himself as he busied himself at the controls, listening to her. She wasn't quite getting everything right, but he had to give her points for enthusiasm. Donna suddenly reminded him of a very keen tour guide he'd once met at the Valley of the Queens in Egypt. The young Egyptian had told the Doctor that a giant statue of a god had lost its head during a religious upheaval. The Doctor hadn't the heart to tell him it had actually been damaged by a flying saucer. The Judoon had had to confiscate the ship and shoot the pilot for drink driving.

With coordinates provided by a grateful Ringstaff, the TARDIS rematerialized deep underground in Torsaaga's main missile complex. The door creaked open. The Doctor went first, Ringstaff and Donna following behind him. Nazene brought up the rear.

They were in a wide, curving hallway. Pipes ran along the walls, and the concrete floor was damp. Everything was back lit with a dull orange glow, coming from strips of florescent style light strips, which were set at intervals high on the walls.

"Your planet's still here, then." Donna said, giving Ringstaff and Nazene a smile. Ringstaff bowed and agreed. Nazene said nothing. He was looking both ways down the corridor, acting jittery.

"Yes indeed, Donna!" Ringstaff smiled.

"Your ship is truly a marvel, Doctor." He said, turning to shake the Doctor's hand. Then the man frowned. "I just hope we're in time. The emperor has probably landed, by now. It's going to be cutting it rather fine, I'm afraid."

"Where are we, exactly?" The Doctor asked.

"The control centre for the missile complex is one floor above us. However, the routing computer which sends the signals to the missiles, is located down here, on the lowest level." Ringstaff told the Doctor in a low voice. "They keep them separate to avoid any danger of sabotage. No staff is allowed on this level. Not even the guards. Only myself, the emperor and the top officer in charge here, know about this place."

"Where is the room where the computers are kept?" The Doctor asked.

"It's..." Ringstaff began to say.

"You killed them." Nazene growled, out of the blue.

"What?" Ringstaff asked, confused at the sergeant's sudden change of conversation.

"Sergeant, not now!" The Doctor warned.

"Bastard! A lot of good soldiers died today. My mate, Corporal Fapter. He was just a kid! We could've won. None of this would have happened." Nazene said, his eyes suddenly going mad looking. "All because of you. You and that lying, self-serving..." His voice trailed off.

Nazene pulled out the little laser pistol he'd taken from Ringstaff, earlier that day. With shaking hands, he pointed it his former commandant. Ringstaff reacted instantly. Reaching into a hidden pocket in his baggy military tunic, he yanked out a laser pistol, which he'd picked up from the floor of the burning barn. The gun in his hand stayed down by Ringstaff's side. He didn't want anything more right at that moment, than to stop the emperor from sending off those bombs.

The Doctor stepped out of the way and got Donna behind him.

"No, don't! You can't!" He shouted to Nazene.

"Please don't, sergeant!" Ringstaff pleaded. "I don't want to kill anymore. Don't make me do this!"

Without another word, Nazene blew a hole dead-centre through Ringstaff's heart. At the moment of impact, Ringstaff's finger involuntarily tightened on the trigger of his own gun. The shot went upward, right through Nazene's skull. Silence reigned in the cold, sterile hallway of the underground bunker. The Doctor didn't need to check for vital signs. Both men were obviously dead


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I can understand now why you hate guns so much, Doctor." Donna said quietly, trying not to stare too hard at the bodies of their former companions. "I had no idea the sergeant had gone 'round the bend like that. Maybe if I'd paid more attention to him, I would've noticed."

"It's not your fault, Donna." The Doctor said softly, putting his arm around her. "It's nobody's fault. I think the sergeant had been mentally wounded, well before we came along."

"Oh my God!" Donna said abruptly, pulling away and giving the Doctor a horrified look. "I've just realized. Ringstaff never told you where to find that computer room."

"Yes, Donna. I do know that. I was there, remember?" The Doctor said.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." She apologized.

"Don't be." He said, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. "I need to have you around if I ever get senile. Blimey! You're like a walking a Sticky Note."

"Look, Doctor. I know that technically, we could just get in the TARDIS and leave." Donna said anxiously. We aren't though, are we? We're not gonna' leave people on two separate planets to die? I mean, it's not like Pompeii all over again? One of your 'fixed points in history?' Please tell me it isn't?"

The Doctor had slipped on his eyeglasses, and was adjusting some settings on his sonic. He held it up in the air.

"No, Donna. It isn't." He told her. "We're staying."

"But...how are we gonna' get there in time, if we don't even know where this missile computer thing is?" She asked.

"Ladies and gents and Donna Nobles." The Doctor said to her in his best infomercial pitchman's patter. "You'll notice this handy-dandy little device I have in here my hand. Good for all sorts of purposes; unlocking doors, checking for concussion, reversing the polarity of a neutron flow, speeding up the cooking time of your Sunday roast, and..." He resumed speaking normally, "finding a massive military computer which controls a mob of missiles."

The Doctor pressed down on the sonic screwdriver. Nothing happened. It didn't even make hardly any noise. Donna, who was stood watching him with her arms akimbo, raised an eyebrow. He frowned, glared at the sonic and gave it a big shake. Then the Doctor walked around in a circle, pointing it in all directions.

Suddenly, as he turned to face up the hallway, the device began to give off a sharply pitched warbling noise. The Doctor's eyes lit up. Taking off his glasses and pocketing them, he gave Donna an 'I told you so' grin, and they were off, Running up the long, curving corridor, running as if the lives of billions of people they didn't even know, depended on them. Twice, they had to stop. Breath heaving, Donna could only watch, while the Doctor punched in a security code to get them through some doors.

At last they came to a heavy gray metal door marked, '_KEEP OUT! Security Clearance One Staff Only Beyond This Point. DANGER!'_

"Security clearance one. That's me." The Doctor said to Donna, punching in the security code, and pushing open the door.

All of the sudden, a very loud alarm began to hoot, echoing up and down the hallway. Red lights began flashing.

"Erm—or maybe not." The Doctor admitted to Donna, who rolled her eyes at him.

Shutting the door, the Doctor sonicked it.

Many miles away, deep inside the Imperial House, in a posh office paneled with dark wood and filled with antique furniture and historical mementos, Emperor Yenhir was seated behind his desk. He'd changed out of his war-tattered robes, and now was wearing his casual 'commoners' attire; casual black shirt under a dark green cardigan jumper, black jeans and old brown slippers. He was leaning back in his chair, smoking a pipe, with his feet propped up on the desk, staring up at the ceiling. There was a half-full glass of purple tinted liquor in his hand. The emperor lifted his glass in silent salute to the green, black and gold fringed flag of Torsaaga, which was hanging l imply on a pole in a corner of his office

An intercom on his desk buzzed.

"Emperor Yenhir, sir? Your Imperial Majesty? Are you alright in there?" A young man's trembling voice asked.

The voice was that of an intern. He'd noticed how the emperor had come waltzing in from the shuttle-pad on the roof, alone except for a handful of his imperial guardsmen. When the young man asked if his emperor's aides were coming, Yenhir only snorted.

"Son, today your emperor woke up and realized, that the only good aide, is a dead one." He had

said to the young man

Yenhir called out to the guard outside his office door. The man opened it and stuck his head inside.

"Sir?" The guardsman inquired

"Kill that stupid little intern for me, would you? There's a good chap." Yenhir told him.

"As you wish my emperor!" The man said, saluting crisply. He shut the door.

A few moments later, there was the sound of the young man pleading for his life. This was followed the sound of a laser pistol, which was then followed by the faintly heard thud.

"Might as well get this over with." Yenhir said, removing his feet from the desk. Sitting up in his chair, the emperor put out his pipe and took one last sip of his drink. He reached down opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a miniature computer terminal and putting on the desk in front of him "Eh—what was my password?" He muttered.

The Doctor and Donna were inside a small room filled with computer equipment. Donna looked around at the confusing array of terminals and banks of instruments full of flashing multi-coloured lights.

"Oh great!" Donna rolled her eyes. "How are we supposed to know which computer houses the missile deactivation thing?"

Suddenly, the door burst open. A tall, distinguished looking man in a simpler version of Ringstaff's uniform came through, gun drawn. He was alone. The man looked pale and nervous.

"I'm General Tifffan." The man said, holstering his gun. "I'm in charge of this base. And I hope to gods you two are here to stop those missiles from being launched. The emperor's completely lost it this time. And I don't care if they shoot me for saying so."

"I'm going to try." The Doctor nodded. "Why can't you stop it yourself?"

"I only took over here a week ago. I was wounded at the Battle of Vom. After I recovered, the military put me in charge of running this base. Bureaucrats." Tiffan shrugged. "They still haven't bothered to send me the deactivation codes."

"Have you got the passwords, at least?" The Doctor asked hopefully.

"Yes. Thank the gods for that." The general said. "Yet, I'm afraid you'll only get one try, once you find the correct file. Without the proper deactivation code, the whole system automatically bans the entry of any other codes for twelve hours. The missiles can still be launched , but...there'll be no way to stop them."

"What idiot thought that up?" Donna blurted out.

"Shhh—Not now, Donna." The Doctor said brusquely. Then asked the general, "What idiot thought that up?"

"Emperor Yenhir, I believe." General Tiffan answered.

"Squirrel Nutking has been busy." The Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. "We're running out of time. I think I may be able to hack into the emperor's files and find the codes. Knowing the passwords will help. What's the first password?"

General Tiffan leaned over and whispered into the Doctor's ear. The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise.

"_Really_?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Is there anything else I can do? The general said.

"OK, yeah." The Doctor said, slipping on his eyeglasses. "I need you to show me which one of these computer terminals handles missle deactivation."

All was quiet back in the Imperial House. The dead bodies shot by the guardsmen made sure of that.

"That impure mob of mutts on Dacana thought they could beat me. Yeah? We'll see who is beaten, you stinking pack of begabonds" The emperor muttered manically. He was bent over a sofa in his office, lifting up the cushions,, frantically grabbing up coins, lint balls and scraps of paper. The man would look at the scraps of paper, frown in disappointment, then throw them on the floor . "I know I wrote that password down somewhere!" He said crossly.

Back on the missile base, the Doctor was sitting in a chair, furiously air-typing at a three-dimensional virtual keyboard, hovering just above his lap. Strangely, the monitor screen was not unlike a twenty-first century Earth plasma screen.

The Doctor's first try merely netted the code for a computer game, involving ancient Torsaagan soldiers fighting each other on a battlefield. The next few tries were even more discouraging. A few files containing pictures of his holidays on his space yacht. And one file marked "_Top Secret_" turned out to be the emperor's bank balance. Another file was recipes, and yet another was filled with illegal music downloads.

"These files have got more layers than a royal wedding cake." The Doctor grumbled. "Blimey! This is taking way too long." He paused for a second, running his fingers through his hair, staring ruefully at the screen.

"You can do it, Doctor." Donna told him."You've saved other planets, you'll save these."

"Time is running out, Donna." The Doctor replied, shaking his head sadly. "I can't sit here and play games with these passwords. I've got to find that file. Now."

"I've know!" Donna said encouragingly, "Think of it as a computer game. And you're playing against the world's biggest idiot."

The Doctor turned around, about to give her an irascible reply. He closed his mouth, keeping himself from saying something he'd regret, later. Then, he paused. The Doctor thought about what she'd said, and gave her a huge smile.

"Oh, Donna Noble." He said, with a twinkle in his eye. "I'd kiss you. If I didn't think you'd slap me into the middle of next week for doing it."

"I Hope I didn't do some weird alien thing? Like ask you out on a date?" Donna asked, not sure where the Doctor was headed now.

"No. But you did just give me an idea." The Doctor said, flexing his fingers. "Let the games begin!"

Donna and the general watched, as the Doctor began typing again. As he typed, he explained.

"It's that one file. The game! Why didn't I realize that?" The Doctor said, his voice charged with energy, as he continued to type. Donna noticed that he was playing the game, almost without looking. One formation of soldiers fell after another, as the Doctor worked his way through the various battles of the game. "When I entered the first password, the one that you thought most likely to be the right one, General, this is the first file the computer brought up." He said, "The emperor has hidden the codes inside the game! You have to get to the end and win. If I'm correct...and I almost always am. Well...some of the time...Anyway, after you win the game, the computer will route the information to the 'off' switch to the missiles. Then all I'll have to do, is hit the 'enter' key. And, bob's yer uncle, missile launch nixed."

In the emperor's private office, he was going through some magazines he'd hidden behind the sofa. Holding them by the spine, he shook them, looking to see if anything fell out. Finally, a slip of paper did. It had been used to mark the page for the Miss Spring centre-fold. Emperor Yenhir stooped over to retrieve it. It was a candy wrapper, with a series of letters and numbers written on the back, and one word: '_rosebud_'. Yenhir looked at it, and a wide grin spread over his face. His plans must go forward, no matter what.

"Yes!" He said triumphantly, punching the air. "Got it!"

The emperor went to toss the magazine on the sofa. He paused, looked at the beautiful, scantily clad woman on the cover, and took it with him back over to the desk He sat there, smugly staring at the miniature screen of his computer.

Looking at the slip of paper, Yenhir typed in the password. Then, he punched in a series of letters and numbers that were on the slip of paper. These were the codes which would put through a series of automatic cheats in the game, enabling him to get to the end in less than than a minute. '_GAME OVER_.' appeared on the screen. The screen went black. Words in yellow letters appeared.

'**Missile Launch Confirmation. To confirm press enter.'**

The emperor's finger hung over 'enter'.

"Goodbye Dacana!" Yenhir gloated, as he pressed the key.

"Got it! The file with the deactivation codes." The Doctor exclaimed excitedly.

On the video monitor came the words. _'__GAME OVER_.' Immediately, the screen turned blue and some words in red began to scroll across.

'**Missile Launch Deactivation. To deactivate press enter.**'

The Doctor's finger hovered over the 'enter' key.

"Here goes..." he muttered.

Yenhir got up and poured himself another drink. He stared out the window into the early light of the Torsaaga dawn, and sighed with contentment. Without warning, there was a commotion outside his door. The sound of a scuffle. As an annoyed emperor turned to order someone shot, the door to his office burst wide open. General Tiffan came through, flanked by army soldiers. Other soldiers held the imperial guardsmen prisoner in the background.

"You're too late, general." Yenhir said. "Dacana is gone. It's history."

"Sorry sir. But the missile launch was scuttled. Both Dacana and Torsaaga are safe." Said the man, adding, "Maybe at this moment, safer than they've been in years. Take him away, men."

"But...but...you can't do that, you traitor!" Yenhir shouted as two soldiers took by the arms and lead him away. "I'm your emperor! I'll have you all executed for this!"

"You'll have no one shot anymore, mister. You're off to prison. And, an interplanetary war crimes inquiry." The General said.

Tiffan turned to look in the hallway behind him. At the blue police box standing there.

"Thank you, Doctor..." the man said.

But it was too late. The general squinted his eyes against the wind that suddenly gusted through the hall, as the TARDIS groaned and wheezed and dematerialized.

In the control room, the Doctor was busy puttering about the console.

"There we go! All fixed and ready to rock and roll. Aren't you old girl? " The Doctor was grinning happily and giving the console an affectionate pat. "Who's a good little TARDIS then?" He schmoozed it.

"Would you two like some time alone?" She asked, laughing and shaking her head.

"Donna," the Doctor asked, his hands flitting over the console, then pulling down a lever, "have you ever been to an American tractor pulling contest?"

**The End**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 10

"This ship is about to explode, taking our moon with it? And you're just sittin' there, drinking cat piss tea?" Donna said to Captain Blite, alarmed at the sudden turn of events.

"That about sums it up in a gratnut shell, Miss Donna. Yeah." The captain replied with a casual shrug. He gave a sloppy nautical salute. "Get to go up with my ship. The heroic Captain Blite! Some folk singer will probably write a song about me. Groovy."

"Listen to me!" The Doctor hissed, grabbing Blite by the shoulders and staring him in the face. "If the moon gets destroyed, all that debris will end up taking the Earth with it! You don't have to sit here and let that happen. I can stop the bomb from going off. But you have to tell me exactly where it is!"

"I'm—I'm..." Captain Blite mumbled, as he began to slump over, "...I'm tired. I wanna' go lay down now."

"This thing's got six engine rooms in it and that bomb's got special shielding to avoid detection. I can't use the TARDIS to find it. Where is it?" the frustrated Doctor said through gritted teeth, practically shaking the man.

Suddenly, Donna pushed him aside. She bent down, and gave the crumpled drunk a heavy slap across the face.

"Wake up!" She shouted. Then, bending near his face, she gave him a stern lecture. Sorry. Nothing personal. But we really haven't got time for your little trip to self-pity land. My whole planet is at stake. A million innocent people, just like those passengers you were so upset about. You couldn't save them. But you can save others. Now get with the programme and help us!" She said.

It worked. Captain Blite sat up, gasped and stared at Donna with shock in his eyes. "How dare you strike a ship's officer! I could have you shot for that!"

"According to you, I'm about to be blown up. Shooting me would be a bit of overkill, don't ya' think?." She countered. "Stop being so thick. You're the captain. Act like one. Tell us where that bomb is."

"Engine room six." The Captain mumbled, the harsh truth of Donna's words, suddenly making him ashamed of his behavior.

"Oh that's typical. Probably the farthest one from here. Of course." The Doctor muttered ironically, throwing up his hands in disgust. "How do I find it?"

"Four levels down. Through the lift doors, straight down to the end of the corridor, second door from the end. I'm guessing it'll probably be attached to the nuclear fission generator. That's where it'd do the most damage. It's too late, though. You'll never get there on time." The Captain said gloomily.

The Doctor didn't bother with a reply. He simply bolted from the room and headed for the lift, Donna behind him. Using his sonic, the Doctor made the lift go down at a far faster rate than it was ever meant to go. Donna's shriek of alarm pretty much proved that. To avoid her verbal abuse when the lift stopped, the Doctor promptly apologized to Donna for forgetting to warn her.

The lift doors had barely opened, when the Doctor squeaked through, still gripping the sonic screwdriver. His face determined, the Doctor barreled down the narrow corridor towards the engine rooms. This part of the ship was much darker than the one above, black shadows concealing what lay beyond the reach of the purple ceiling lights. It was dirty and utilitarian. The grimy counterpoint of a sleek, streamlined spaceship, which the passengers would never see.

Paved with concrete, the floor reverberated with the Doctor and Donna's passing. It sounded, in the empty and lifeless corridor, as loud as a herd of stampeding elephants. They passed five numbered gray steel doors, until they came to one marked **'**Engine Room 6.' When the Doctor pressed the outside latch, the door slid open, revealing an oily, steamy cavernous room. It was filled with all sorts of heavy machinery, pipes and control panels. Only a few red and yellow emergency lights lit up the place, making it seem like the bowels of hell.

Pausing for barely a second, the Doctor held the the sonic screwdriver up in the air and pressed down on it. The tip glowed blue and a low hum emitted from it. As the Doctor, standing on one leg, pirouetted a swift circle, the hum grew suddenly stronger to his right. He and Donna ran in that direction. Stopping in front of a large, complex looking machine, the Doctor immediately spied a device attached to the side.

"There you are, you beauty!" The Doctor said to the bomb, relieved at finding it so quickly.

"Are you going to deactivate that thing or flirt with it?." Donna smirked.

"Not now, Donna." He muttered, prising open the black metal outer casing of the device with his sonic screwdriver.

The bomb had been wedged on top of two control panels on the machine. It was placed just up out of Donna's reach, but was not so high that the Doctor couldn't work on it.

"Ah, now. This could get interesting." The Doctor said, examining the insides. "The Toxil-Maacht weren't messing about when they devised this thing." He explained to Donna, as he fiddled with some wires with his sonic screwdriver. "I'm going to have to be really careful. They probably have kinds of booby traps installed in here..." There was an audible click. It was followed by a rapid bleeping sound and a red light began to flash. The Doctor's intense expression of concentration changed to chagrin. "Erm—like that one." He swallowed, looking very unhappy, "Apparently."

"Oh my God. Can you stop it?" Donna asked, trying to see what was going on.

"No, I thought we'd stand around and wait to be vaporized." The Doctor snapped, uncharacteristically sarcastic with her. Then he sighed with resignation. "Yeah, Donna. I can stop it." His fingers felt around through the protruding multi-coloured wires. His thumb touched what felt like a relay switch, and he pressed down on it. The noise and the flashing light stopped.

"Whew! That was close." Donna said. But, on closer inspection, she saw the look on the Doctor's face. Both grim and sad. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"What is it?" She asked softly, dreading the answer.

"Donna, get back to the TARDIS, quick as you can. You'll be safe there. Go to the console and press the blue button to the right of the monitor screen. The one that says 'Recall.' The Doctor said, not looking at her, his tone somber. "It'll automatically take you to the nearest planet with a suitable environment."

She knew, then. The Doctor was facing his death. It chilled her to the bone, to think of losing him this way. He was so full of life and energy. The idea of the Doctor being gone, was almost unthinkable to her.

"If you stop holding down that switch, it's going to go off, isn't it?" Donna surmised, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah." The Doctor nodded. "Something like that."

"Can't you find some gaffer tape or something to hold it down?" Donna suggested hopefully.

"Good idea, but no." The Doctor shook his head sadly. "There would be too much risk that the tape would come undone. Or, that it wouldn't exert enough pressure. This switch requires several pounds per square inch behind it, to keep it pressed down. Sorry, Donna."

The Doctor's hearts broke with knowing that he'd not regenerate this time. Not if his body was instantly vaporized. Nine hundred years of facing death on a regular basis, and still he wasn't ready for it. Wasn't ready for what might or might not lie beyond the grave. At least Donna would be safe, in the TARDIS. He was very happy he'd gotten to travel with her, in the end. No regrets there. Yet, it also made him so very sad, that their friendship would end in this way. It saddened him even more, to think of all those people down below on earth at the mercy of the Toxil-Maact, and he couldn't stop them. There was nothing he could do.

"Did you find it?" Captain Blite's still less-than-sober voice came from behind them, startling Donna.

"Dude." He addressed the Doctor. "Like, what are ya' doin'? Aren't you supposed to be defusing a bomb or something?"

Donna now suspected he'd been imbibing something more than alcohol. He smelled as if he'd been smoking something that wasn't tobacco. The captain's silvery jumpsuit uniform stood out in the dark room, like a full moon in a dark winter sky. In the dim light, she could see that his hair was disheveled, and his face had a hangdog look about it.

"Listen, captain moonbeam." The Doctor said tersely, "I need you to go up to the flight deck and point this ship towards deep space. You ought to be sober enough to do that one simple thing. There should have just enough power to at least maneuver the ship and set it in motion away from any planets. Oh, and one more thing; don't ever call me 'dude'! John Wayne did that once. That's when he started walking like he'd had an accident in his pants."

"Wow man, I could, like, turn the ship around. But, you know it won't go very fast. Without power, this ship will only drift. It'll crawl along like a gob turtle. It'll probably take, oh, three or four days, just to get away from this moon." Captain Blite drawled.

"Doesn't matter, I can stay here till' the proverbial cows come home if I have to. Just do it! Then both of you, get to the TARDIS and stay there." The Doctor ordered them.

"Cows?" Captain Blite muttered to himself, clearly baffled. "I didn't book any cows as passengers on this trip. Did I?"

"No! Let me, Doctor." Donna said firmly. "I'll do it."

"Ta' Donna, but now is really not the best time to pick to become a martyr." The Doctor said to her.

"Martyr my...look, Doctor. I don't wanna' die any more than you do!" Donna snorted, "Bottom line is though, I can't save Wilf. I can't stop a million other people down there on Earth from dying. But, you _can_. So let me do this, yeah?"

"What's she sayin'? The Captain asked the Doctor.

"If I stop holding down this switch here, the whole ship goes ka-blooey. And takes Donna's planet with it." The Doctor told him.

"Oh. And that's not good, is it?" Blite asked unnecessarily.

"No!" The Doctor and Donna replied simultaneously.

"What if I hold it down?" Captain Blite said. "I've nothing left to lose. If I go home without my crew or my ship, I'll be sacked. No one will ever hire me to take out another ship again. Not even as a cook's mate. I'll end up living rough in some street. But, going up with my ship. Like the sound of that. Maybe they'll give me a medal posthumously. Oooh, or even better, make it into a holofilm. I can just see it now: 'Mutiny on the Abundance.' Great title, don't ya' think?."

"I'm disappointed. I thought you were an honourable man, Captain Blite." The Doctor shook his head."

"What do you mean?" The captain frowned. "Of course I am!"

"I concede that taking my place might somehow seem like a way out, when you think there's nowhere left for you to go. But trust me," The Doctor reflected, thinking of his own losses, "it won't end there. You'll leave behind people who cared about you, who will feel nothing grief and guilt. And then there's all that potential wonder and happiness and beauty you have yet to see, the friends you've yet to meet. I know things look pretty grim to you now. You have to fight, captain!" The Doctor told him. "Put one foot in front of the other and carry on. That's what life's about. Survival. Soldiering on when it's the last thing you want to do. I'm a Time Lord. I know that things can and do change, eventually. You'll get away from here, find your way home to Trixie and work things out from there. Together. You don't want to leave her alone, now do you?"

"No, Doctor. I don't want anyone to be alone." Captain Blite said quietly. "It's a terrible thing, being alone." His left arm reached towards the Doctor, as he wanted to hug him. "Thank you. I..."

Without warning, Blite's right hand whipped out a cosh from his jumpsuit pocket. He smashed it against the back of the Doctor's head. With surprisingly good reflexes for a drunk, in the same movement his hand shot out towards the bomb. Captain Blite pressed his finger against the switch as the Doctor's hand began to slip off of it. The Doctor slowly crumbled to the floor, out cold.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"This ship is about to explode, taking our moon with it? And you're just sittin' there, drinking cat piss tea?" Donna said to Captain Blite, alarmed at the sudden turn of events.

"That about sums it up in a gratnut shell, Miss Donna. Yeah." The captain replied with a casual shrug. He gave a sloppy nautical salute. "Get to go up with my ship. The heroic Captain Blite! Some folk singer will probably write a song about me. Groovy."

"Listen to me!" The Doctor hissed, grabbing Blite by the shoulders and staring him in the face. "If the moon gets destroyed, all that debris will end up taking the Earth with it! You don't have to sit here and let that happen. I can stop the bomb from going off. But you have to tell me exactly where it is!"

"I'm—I'm..." Captain Blite mumbled, as he began to slump over, "...I'm tired. I wanna' go lay down now."

"This thing's got six engine rooms in it and that bomb's got special shielding to avoid detection. I can't use the TARDIS to find it. Where is it?" the frustrated Doctor said through gritted teeth, practically shaking the man.

Suddenly, Donna pushed him aside. She bent down, and gave the crumpled drunk a heavy slap across the face.

"Wake up!" She shouted. Then, bending near his face, she gave him a stern lecture. Sorry. Nothing personal. But we really haven't got time for your little trip to self-pity land. My whole planet is at stake. A million innocent people, just like those passengers you were so upset about. You couldn't save them. But you can save others. Now get with the programme and help us!" She said.

It worked. Captain Blite sat up, gasped and stared at Donna with shock in his eyes. "How dare you strike a ship's officer! I could have you shot for that!"

"According to you, I'm about to be blown up. Shooting me would be a bit of overkill, don't ya' think?." She countered. "Stop being so thick. You're the captain. Act like one. Tell us where that bomb is."

"Engine room six." The Captain mumbled, the harsh truth of Donna's words, suddenly making him ashamed of his behavior.

"Oh that's typical. Probably the farthest one from here. Of course." The Doctor muttered ironically, throwing up his hands in disgust. "How do I find it?"

"Four levels down. Through the lift doors, straight down to the end of the corridor, second door from the end. I'm guessing it'll probably be attached to the nuclear fission generator. That's where it'd do the most damage. It's too late, though. You'll never get there on time." The Captain said gloomily.

The Doctor didn't bother with a reply. He simply bolted from the room and headed for the lift, Donna behind him. Using his sonic, the Doctor made the lift go down at a far faster rate than it was ever meant to go. Donna's shriek of alarm pretty much proved that. To avoid her verbal abuse when the lift stopped, the Doctor promptly apologized to Donna for forgetting to warn her.

The lift doors had barely opened, when the Doctor squeaked through, still gripping the sonic screwdriver. His face determined, the Doctor barreled down the narrow corridor towards the engine rooms. This part of the ship was much darker than the one above, black shadows concealing what lay beyond the reach of the purple ceiling lights. It was dirty and utilitarian. The grimy counterpoint of a sleek, streamlined spaceship, which the passengers would never see.

Paved with concrete, the floor reverberated with the Doctor and Donna's passing. It sounded, in the empty and lifeless corridor, as loud as a herd of stampeding elephants. They passed five numbered gray steel doors, until they came to one marked **'**Engine Room 6.' When the Doctor pressed the outside latch, the door slid open, revealing an oily, steamy cavernous room. It was filled with all sorts of heavy machinery, pipes and control panels. Only a few red and yellow emergency lights lit up the place, making it seem like the bowels of hell.

Pausing for barely a second, the Doctor held the the sonic screwdriver up in the air and pressed down on it. The tip glowed blue and a low hum emitted from it. As the Doctor, standing on one leg, pirouetted a swift circle, the hum grew suddenly stronger to his right. He and Donna ran in that direction. Stopping in front of a large, complex looking machine, the Doctor immediately spied a device attached to the side.

"There you are, you beauty!" The Doctor said to the bomb, relieved at finding it so quickly.

"Are you going to deactivate that thing or flirt with it?." Donna smirked.

"Not now, Donna." He muttered, prising open the black metal outer casing of the device with his sonic screwdriver.

The bomb had been wedged on top of two control panels on the machine. It was placed just up out of Donna's reach, but was not so high that the Doctor couldn't work on it.

"Ah, now. This could get interesting." The Doctor said, examining the insides. "The Toxil-Maacht weren't messing about when they devised this thing." He explained to Donna, as he fiddled with some wires with his sonic screwdriver. "I'm going to have to be really careful. They probably have kinds of booby traps installed in here..." There was an audible click. It was followed by a rapid bleeping sound and a red light began to flash. The Doctor's intense expression of concentration changed to chagrin. "Erm—like that one." He swallowed, looking very unhappy, "Apparently."

"Oh my God. Can you stop it?" Donna asked, trying to see what was going on.

"No, I thought we'd stand around and wait to be vaporized." The Doctor snapped, uncharacteristically sarcastic with her. Then he sighed with resignation. "Yeah, Donna. I can stop it." His fingers felt around through the protruding multi-coloured wires. His thumb touched what felt like a relay switch, and he pressed down on it. The noise and the flashing light stopped.

"Whew! That was close." Donna said. But, on closer inspection, she saw the look on the Doctor's face. Both grim and sad. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"What is it?" She asked softly, dreading the answer.

"Donna, get back to the TARDIS, quick as you can. You'll be safe there. Go to the console and press the blue button to the right of the monitor screen. The one that says 'Recall.' The Doctor said, not looking at her, his tone somber. "It'll automatically take you to the nearest planet with a suitable environment."

She knew, then. The Doctor was facing his death. It chilled her to the bone, to think of losing him this way. He was so full of life and energy. The idea of the Doctor being gone, was almost unthinkable to her.

"If you stop holding down that switch, it's going to go off, isn't it?" Donna surmised, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah." The Doctor nodded. "Something like that."

"Can't you find some gaffer tape or something to hold it down?" Donna suggested hopefully.

"Good idea, but no." The Doctor shook his head sadly. "There would be too much risk that the tape would come undone. Or, that it wouldn't exert enough pressure. This switch requires several pounds per square inch behind it, to keep it pressed down. Sorry, Donna."

The Doctor's hearts broke with knowing that he'd not regenerate this time. Not if his body was instantly vaporized. Nine hundred years of facing death on a regular basis, and still he wasn't ready for it. Wasn't ready for what might or might not lie beyond the grave. At least Donna would be safe, in the TARDIS. He was very happy he'd gotten to travel with her, in the end. No regrets there. Yet, it also made him so very sad, that their friendship would end in this way. It saddened him even more, to think of all those people down below on earth at the mercy of the Toxil-Maact, and he couldn't stop them. There was nothing he could do.

"Did you find it?" Captain Blite's still less-than-sober voice came from behind them, startling Donna.

"Dude." He addressed the Doctor. "Like, what are ya' doin'? Aren't you supposed to be defusing a bomb or something?"

Donna now suspected he'd been imbibing something more than alcohol. He smelled as if he'd been smoking something that wasn't tobacco. The captain's silvery jumpsuit uniform stood out in the dark room, like a full moon in a dark winter sky. In the dim light, she could see that his hair was disheveled, and his face had a hangdog look about it.

"Listen, captain moonbeam." The Doctor said tersely, "I need you to go up to the flight deck and point this ship towards deep space. You ought to be sober enough to do that one simple thing. There should have just enough power to at least maneuver the ship and set it in motion away from any planets. Oh, and one more thing; don't ever call me 'dude'! John Wayne did that once. That's when he started walking like he'd had an accident in his pants."

"Wow man, I could, like, turn the ship around. But, you know it won't go very fast. Without power, this ship will only drift. It'll crawl along like a gob turtle. It'll probably take, oh, three or four days, just to get away from this moon." Captain Blite drawled.

"Doesn't matter, I can stay here till' the proverbial cows come home if I have to. Just do it! Then both of you, get to the TARDIS and stay there." The Doctor ordered them.

"Cows?" Captain Blite muttered to himself, clearly baffled. "I didn't book any cows as passengers on this trip. Did I?"

"No! Let me, Doctor." Donna said firmly. "I'll do it."

"Ta' Donna, but now is really not the best time to pick to become a martyr." The Doctor said to her.

"Martyr my...look, Doctor. I don't wanna' die any more than you do!" Donna snorted, "Bottom line is though, I can't save Wilf. I can't stop a million other people down there on Earth from dying. But, you _can_. So let me do this, yeah?"

"What's she sayin'? The Captain asked the Doctor.

"If I stop holding down this switch here, the whole ship goes ka-blooey. And takes Donna's planet with it." The Doctor told him.

"Oh. And that's not good, is it?" Blite asked unnecessarily.

"No!" The Doctor and Donna replied simultaneously.

"What if I hold it down?" Captain Blite said. "I've nothing left to lose. If I go home without my crew or my ship, I'll be sacked. No one will ever hire me to take out another ship again. Not even as a cook's mate. I'll end up living rough in some street. But, going up with my ship. Like the sound of that. Maybe they'll give me a medal posthumously. Oooh, or even better, make it into a holofilm. I can just see it now: 'Mutiny on the Abundance.' Great title, don't ya' think?."

"I'm disappointed. I thought you were an honourable man, Captain Blite." The Doctor shook his head."

"What do you mean?" The captain frowned. "Of course I am!"

"I concede that taking my place might somehow seem like a way out, when you think there's nowhere left for you to go. But trust me," The Doctor reflected, thinking of his own losses, "it won't end there. You'll leave behind people who cared about you, who will feel nothing grief and guilt. And then there's all that potential wonder and happiness and beauty you have yet to see, the friends you've yet to meet. I know things look pretty grim to you now. You have to fight, captain!" The Doctor told him. "Put one foot in front of the other and carry on. That's what life's about. Survival. Soldiering on when it's the last thing you want to do. I'm a Time Lord. I know that things can and do change, eventually. You'll get away from here, find your way home to Trixie and work things out from there. Together. You don't want to leave her alone, now do you?"

"No, Doctor. I don't want anyone to be alone." Captain Blite said quietly. "It's a terrible thing, being alone." His left arm reached towards the Doctor, as he wanted to hug him. "Thank you. I..."

Without warning, Blite's right hand whipped out a cosh from his jumpsuit pocket. He smashed it against the back of the Doctor's head. With surprisingly good reflexes for a drunk, in the same movement his hand shot out towards the bomb. Captain Blite pressed his finger against the switch as the Doctor's hand began to slip off of it. The Doctor slowly crumbled to the floor, out cold.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Doctor!" Donna cried out, kneeling beside his body. Angry, she looked up at Blite. "What'd you do that for? He was trying to help you!"

"And I helped him in return." The captain replied with a melancholy tone. He looked at her with wistful eyes. "There is no Trixie, miss Donna. There never was. I made her up. It's all about image in my line of work, these days. The stern—but also very hip, ship's captain. Not always easy to keep up appearances, you know. So, I'd wind people up from time to time about my fictional dream girl." He shook his head. "It's a lot less strange then some of those weirdos surfing the Optiweb, posing as their favourite celebrity or fictional character on MeBook. I mean, what's with that?"

This bloke was definitely ready to be sectioned to the nearest padded cell, Donna decided. He was one finger away from being vaporized, and all he's thinking about is his imaginary girlfriend? The Doctor was still out cold. All she could do was keep captain fruitcake talking, hoping he wouldn't get so sorry for himself, that he let his hand slip off the switch.

"But surely, there must be someone who would miss you if you were gone?" Donna asked him.

"On my own, I'm afraid." The captain shrugged. "My parents are dead. I have a brother but we aren't close. We only vone each other once a year, every winter solstice eve. He never even bothered to send me a birthday salutation this year. To be honest, I never had much time for relationships. I'm married to my work. This ship is my whole life." Blite's free hand stroked a bit of machinery lovingly. "I've served on her, ever since I was a young lad. She's wonderful! Really far-out, ya' know?. My dad helped to design her and I watched her being built, day by day. Dreaming of sailing off into the stars on her. And, as you can see, my dream came true. She's my best friend. The idea of parting from her...it's simply unthinkable to me. This ship is all I've got."

There was a groan from the Doctor, as he lay prone on the floor. As he regained consciousness, Donna helped him to sit upright. The Doctor glared angrily at Blite and was about to say something biting, but the captain cut him off.

"No, don't say it. I am sorry, Doctor, but it had to be done. Besides, maybe if I'm holding down this switch, you can get to engine room one and at least fix the auxiliary rotational atomizer drive. It's not connected to the main drive. That way you could steer my ship out of here much faster. It would only be hours, instead of days to get clear. Then you and your girlfriend here..."

"Erm—we're just friends!" Donna and the Doctor blurted out, pointing at each other and shaking their heads..

"Hey man, whatever you say. I can dig it." Blite shrugged. "Anyway, with the ol' girl here safely underway, you'll be free to go after the Toxil-Maacht. They have a lot to answer for. Especially their Special Procurer. That cat's a real drag.."

"Listen, Blite." The Doctor said desperately, as he got up off the floor. "I'll come back for you. I give you my word. Just hold on to that switch. I've got my TARDIS here on board.. I can use it to work out a way to save both you and this ship."

"You hang on, captain. We'll be back." Donna told him, with a parting smile of encouragement, "Just like the Doctor said"

"Right on, miss Donna. Have a nice day. And thank you for choosing the _Abundance_." A sad-faced Captain Blite answered woodenly, automatically reciting the personal farewell he'd given every single passenger for the past twenty years.

The Doctor and Donna left Captain Blite holding down the switch, as they raced back to the first engine room. It looked much the same as the room they'd just left; grimy, steamy and dark. Finding the right bit of machinery didn't take the Doctor very long. With the aid of his sonic screwdriver, and Donna holding a small pen torch so he could see what he was doing, he'd got it up and running in no time.

Next, it was a mad dash for the lift, a wild ride upward—Donna was at least prepared for it, this time. And then another full tilt run down yet another drab corridor to the main flight deck. To Donna, the ship's controls looked more like it had been cobbled together from the set of a low-budget sci-fi film. In a sort of Buck Rogers meets _Star Trek_ kind of way. There was even a large view screen on the wall in front of the captain's chair.

Though the room was half taken up with the equipment required to pilot the ship, the rest of the bridge was obviously kitted out for comfort on long flights through the stars. Walls were painted in soothing pastel colours. The crew's chairs and tables were outright tacky looking, though. They seemed to have been copied from some alien's idea of fifties and sixties lounge furniture.

The Doctor wasted no time in critiquing the décor, but hustled over to the navigator's console. He began plotting a course to take them away from the moon. From there, the Doctor slid over to the pilot's controls. Donna watched as his fingers flitted over the instruments. His hand reached over to the side of the captain's chair and gripped what looked like a sportscar's stick shift. He went to push it to the left, but it was locked in place. He couldn't get it to budge.

"Oh, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted, clearly frustrated. "Arrrgh! They've deadlocked the controls!"

"They've already sabotaged the engines and planted a bomb. Why would they need to lock the controls for?" Donna asked.

"Insurance. They've left nothing to chance. The Toxil-Maacht know what they're doing is illegal, and they don't want any evidence of their crime to reach the Shadow Proclamation." He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his friend. "Don't you see what this means? They aren't planning on killing a million people down below, Donna. They're going to murder over six billion. The whole planet."

"There must be something we can do!" Donna said, staring at the Doctor, who was looking around helplessly at the controls. He looked almost like he wanted to cry. His face had gone pale. He was breathing heavily, clenching his hands. "Doctor? It's not like you to give up. There must be something. Anything." She said to him.

"I can go back to the TARDIS and try and find a way to defuse the bomb from there." He sighed. "But, the ship will still be stuck here, next to your moon. If the captain's hand even twitches that switch..." The Doctor shook his head sadly as his voice trailed off.

"Where's a tow service when you need one?" Donna muttered.

From the captain's seat, the Doctor looked up and stared at her. Abruptly, his eyes lit up with joy.

"Oh Donna Noble! You are dead brilliant, you are!" He shouted, bouncing up from the chair and wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

"What'd I do?" She asked, puzzled.

"I'm so thick!" The Doctor smacked his head. ""I must be getting senile. Or turning into a conservative. Same thing, really. What I mean is, I've overlooked the obvious!" He told her, shaking his head at his own lack of foresight, as they headed back to the lift. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"What? Call some outer space auto club for a tow?" She asked jokingly.

"Nah, why bother them? I can use the TARDIS to tow this ship clear to deep space!" The Doctor grinned.

Back in the TARDIS once again, the Doctor speedily set about towing the other ship away from Earth's moon, and out towards deep space. Then, he began configuring the coordinates to take him back to the ship to rescue Captain Blite. But, he was too late.

As the Doctor was about to set the coordinates, the TARDIS was rocked by a massive explosion. Both he and Donna were unceremoniously swept off their feet. Picking himself off of the floor, the Doctor rushed to the console monitor.

"You alright, Donna?" He asked her, staring with dismay at the monitor screen.

"Yeah. Just bruised my dignity a bit, that's all." She said, deciding not to tell him that her dignity wasn't the only thing that had a few bruises. "I gotta' say, Doctor. Traveling with you is like the morning after a wild hen night, sometimes. What was that?" She asked, limping over to stand beside him.

"Captain Blite." The Doctor said softly, his face suddenly looking old and sad. After a brief pause, the Doctor whispered, "He's gone."

"Don't take it so hard, Doctor. I think he had it planned this way, all along. I doubt either one of us could have changed his mind." Donna told him, placing a hand on his arm. "He told me that ship was all he had. Maybe he couldn't handle being on his own."

Nodding gravely, the Doctor solemnly switched off the monitor. He stared down at the controls, knowing too well that if he didn't have his TARDIS and friends like Donna...and Rose, he might have easily gone the same way.

"I feel awful." Donna said, feeling guilty. "Maybe if I'd stayed with him, kept him talking, instead of running off with you..."

"If you hadn't been with me, I might not have thought to tow this ship out of the danger zone." The Doctor reminded her. As he began setting new coordinates for the TARDIS. "Very probably neither of us could have saved Captain Blite. But, we did try, Donna."

"Funny." Donna said. "He was at least partly responsible for the deaths of his entire crew and two passengers. Yet, I couldn't really hate him. And, in the end, he helped to save six million people."

"I don't think it's all that strange." The Doctor said to her, as he set the TARDIS in flight once again. "There's a mixture of good and bad in most intelligent life forms, I've found. Oh, there's beings out there that are indeed totally evil beyond redemption. Like the Weeping Angels, the Dominators or the Daleks, for instance. And humans like Gengis Khan, Hitler and George W. Bush. In reality though, it's actually fairly rare to find a being who is either all good or all bad. I even met a Dalek once, with Rose. She changed it. It stopped killing. That's never happened before. A Dalek not killing every living thing in sight? Impossible! Yet, before is died, it just wanted to stand and feel the sunshine. I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"Where are we off to now?" Donna asked, watching the Doctor's hands busily tweaking several controls on the TARDIS consle.

"I'm taking you home to be with Wilf. I want you to keep a close eye on him. Don't let them give him, you or your mum any injections." He said, giving a dial which looked like a combination lock a quick twist.

"Don't you worry about that. They're not giving us any jabs!" Donna confirmed. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"And I'm sure you will." The Doctor said under his breath. He smiled to himself thinking about Donna's potential reaction.

"What did you say?" Donna asked suspiciously.

"I said, I hope your mum won't be feeling ill." He lied.

"Where will you be, then?" Donna wondered, as the Doctor landed the TARDIS in a secluded alleyway behind Royal Mercy Hospital.

"I'm think it's time for me to meet the Toxil-Maacht's Special Procurer." The Doctor told her.


End file.
